HUNTINGTON BEACH : Land Is No Longer Sinking, Mayor Says

Seeking to ease concerns that oil drilling could renew problems with sinking land in this beach city, Mayor Thomas J. Mays said there are no major difficulties now even though some parts of the city sank noticeably several decades ago.

The sinking of land and beach was caused by massive oil drilling from 1920 to 1970. As the oil was withdrawn, land gradually shifted to a lower elevation. But Mays said studies of the phenomenon have shown that the subsidence has eased appreciably in the last 20 years.

“There’s been an overreaction to this by some in the press,” Mays said. “It’s not as bad as it has been represented to be. There’s really no big problem.”

The subsidence issue arose after the city began studying ways to tighten its ordinances on oil drilling and closing of old oil wells. During research for the new oil code, which the city adopted earlier this year, city staffers found reports showing that land had sunk in some areas.

The biggest land decline occurred in the uninhabited beach bluff areas on the ocean side of Pacific Coast Highway, near the intersection of Golden West Street. Some sections around the beach sank as much as six feet in the past 60 years, according to a 1987 survey report. But in the inland areas, the earth slumped by only a few inches during that period.

A press release issued by the city this week said that “since 1967, the rate of subsidence has slowed significantly.”

The city’s news release also said oil production in Huntington Beach has declined sharply in recent years, and oil companies have taken measures that could contribute to slowing or eliminating subsidence by injecting water into the underground pockets once filled with oil. Subsidence has slowed to the point where there has been no evidence of damage to personal property, the news release said.

Mays said a new city committee is to be named to further study the subsidence situation. The city is also proposing the purchase of new survey equipment so that it can better monitor any future subsidence, Mays said.

“There should be no concern on the part of Huntington Beach residents with regards to their personal property,” the mayor said.