Local News in Brief : Judge Won’t Order Oil Drilling Review

A judge denied a request Thursday to order the state Coastal Commission to review its approval of Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s proposal to drill for oil in the Pacific Palisades.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eric Younger ruled that the Nov. 8 passage of Proposition O, which prohibited Occidental from drilling in the exclusive beachside community, has no bearing on the Coastal Commission’s approval of oil drilling districts along the coast.

Unless Proposition O is overturned, Occidental will be prohibited from drilling exploratory wells on a site along Pacific Coast Highway.

But Roger Diamond, a lawyer for No Oil Inc., a group that opposes the oil drilling project, said he had sought the court order as “a backup” should Occidental decide to resume its fight for the oil-drilling project.

In asking the court to order the commission to review its July, 1987, approval of the project, Diamond argued that the Coastal Commission’s decision was based in part on the Los Angeles City Council’s preliminary approval of the project, an approval that was overturned by voters with the passage of Proposition O.