Local News in Brief : New Oil Drilling Plan in the Works

A Delaware-based energy company that failed in November to get city approval for its project to extract 27-million barrels of oil from beneath a southeast Torrance neighborhood will present a new plan to the City Council, authorities said this week.

Gregg Martin, division manager for Kelt Energy Inc., which proposed the plan to drill 108 slant wells from a 2.2-acre lot on the corner of Sepulveda Boulevard and Border Avenue, confirmed Wednesday that a similar project at the same site is being developed.

He would not say when the project would be presented to the City Council or what changes Kelt would make to win approval for the project, which was unanimously rejected last Nov. 29.

Council members said they rejected the project, which would operate for 30 years, because Kelt failed to ease residents’ concerns about safety and liability.

Martin said Kelt is prepared to meet with area homeowners to avoid a similar reaction. He said Kelt representatives met in January with the governing board of the Southeast Torrance Homeowners Assn. and are planning to meet with the entire membership in March.