HUNTINGTON BEACH : Council to Weigh New Oil Field Rules

An advisory committee will propose changes to the city’s code aimed at removing low-producing oil wells and making remaining fields and pumps less polluting and more attractive.

The changes could have broad effect because Huntington Beach’s oil production regulations typically set the industry standard for nearby oil cities.

The new code, proposed by a committee of city staff and oil industry officials, is scheduled to be considered by the City Council tonight.

If adopted, the code would prohibit all remaining combustion motor-driven oil pumps in developed areas and require replacing them with quieter, non-polluting, electrically powered pumps.

It also would eliminate unlined oil-separation chambers, or sumps, which are prone to seepage and oil-vapor emissions, and require that lined sumps be used only for spill control and other emergencies. Additionally, a battery of emission standards proposed by the South Coast Air Quality Management District would become law in Huntington Beach.

In an effort to remove older oil pumps more quickly, any well producing fewer than 90 barrels per quarter--about a barrel a day--would be abandoned. Under existing standards, wells can produce as little as 20 barrels every three months and continue operating. Mark Bodenbender, the city’s oil field specialist, said: “Not everybody (on the Oil Committee) got everything they wanted, but we think we have a very workable document everyone can work with that . . . protects residents of Huntington Beach as well as the oil companies.”