HUNTINGTON BEACH : Oil Companies Must Follow Stricter Code
Moving to de-emphasize the city’s image as an oil town, the Huntington Beach City Council this week adopted a new oil and gas production code with new environmental and aesthetic requirements.
The code changes, approved unanimously, are intended to improve oil companies’ accident response and prevention procedures, improve the appearance of oil fields and wells, and speed the removal of aging wells.
The move represents the latest effort to make Huntington Beach “more of a residential community and less of an oil town,” Mayor Pro Tem Peter M. Green said.
Under the new code, oil companies will be required to eliminate old wells producing less than 90 barrels every three months, rather than the current minimum standard of 20 barrels.
“If the wells are going to be out there, we want them producing,” said Mark Bodenbender, the city’s oil field specialist. “We don’t want a situation where there is just a well on the land and they’re letting it go.”
The changes, devised by a committee of city staff and oil-industry officials, also include a ban on future use of internal-combustion motor engines to power oil pumps near developed areas. They are to be replaced by electric pumps, which are quieter and non-polluting.
Other code changes include requiring more landscaping and fencing around oil wells and additional steps to improve appearances and prevent pollution.
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