Occidental Agrees to Fine for Delayed Campaign Report

Occidental Petroleum Corp. has agreed to pay a $1,900 fine for a delay in disclosing that it paid $35,000 to launch a front group that is waging the election battle to protect Oxy’s Pacific Palisades drilling project.

Subject to formal approval by the Fair Political Practices Commission, the fine was cited by Los Angeles City Councilmen Marvin Braude and Zev Yaroslavsky as evidence of deceptive tactics they say Oxy has used to promote its pro-drilling measure, Proposition P.

Braude and Yaroslavsky are backing rival measure Proposition O that would kill Occidental’s plans to drill in Pacific Palisades.

$10-Million Mark Passed

Also Friday, the already record-smashing oil-drilling campaigns surpassed $10 million in spending. Occidental pumped in an additional $1 million in the past week, bringing to $7.3 million the amount that has so far been spent promoting Proposition P. All but $200,000 of that is from the oil company.

The anti-drilling forces backing Proposition O, meanwhile, raised about $400,000 in the last week, bringing their total campaign fund to about $2.8 million.

The FPPC staff and Occidental reached agreement on the fine last week after it was learned that the company, as a “major donor,” failed to report on time that it had provided the seed money for the Los Angeles Public and Coastal Protection Committee. The group was formed by Occidental, funded almost entirely by it and is led by a number of people having close ties to the oil company.

According to FPPC staff findings, Occidental reported in January making 25 campaign contributions--totaling $70,100--in the last half of 1987. Several months later, the company filed amendments showing that over the same period it actually had paid out $96,600, according to the FPPC. But it was not until late August that Occidental reported the $35,000, according to the report.

The fine was sought because Occidental had received a stern warning in 1984 after failing to file timely major donor reports that year, the FPPC staff said. A major donor is any company that gives more than $10,000 in campaign contributions during a calendar year.

‘Not Excusable’

“Because of Occidental’s prior filing history, the experience and knowledge of the Occidental employees and their prior warning letter, Occidental’s failure to timely file complete and accurate statements is not excusable,” the FPPC staff concluded.

Attorney James Blancarte, speaking on behalf of Occidental, said the company agreed to pay the fine “on the simple basis that the inadvertence involved falls far, far short of any intentional breech or violation of any applicable rule or regulation.”

Blancarte said that although Occidental had not reported the amount, the committee had, so there was simply a “technical violation.”

But Yaroslavsky charged that the fine was part of a pattern.

“At every turn in the road, Proposition P has played its dirty tricks in its attempts to manipulate and fool voters,” Yaroslavsky said.

Meanwhile, the South Coast Air Quality Management District board directed AQMD Executive Officer James M. Lents to evaluate a number of environmental concerns before deciding whether to renew AQMD permits, set to expire Nov. 17. The permits are needed for Occidental to proceed with its Pacific Palisades project.

AQMD board member Larry Berg, who called for the review, said, “ . . . Occidental (should) take some steps beyond those outlined in the expiring permits to reduce potential environmental impacts.”

Environmental Safeguards

Berg said new environmental safeguards might be needed on emissions of odorous hydrogen sulfide gas, use of non-leaking valves, pumps and compressors, possible electrification of the drilling and testing equipment instead of powering it by diesel engines, and dust controls.

Berg also called for a complete disclosure on benzene risk assessment calculations and a ban on use of certain drilling lubricants as well as an expanded emergency response plan. Benzene is a known cancer-causing agent in humans.

The board’s directive was based on comments received during a recent hearing in Santa Monica held at the request of No Oil Inc., a group that has opposed Occidental’s plans.

The existing AQMD permits were issued to Occidental in July, 1985. Although they run out on Nov. 17, Lents is not required to decide whether to renew them before they expire, a district spokeswoman said.