HUNTINGTON BEACH : Sinking of Ground Is Focus of Study

Is the city still sinking because of underground oil removal?

That question will be the focus of a new study committee named by the City Council. After months of getting sometimes conflicting information about sinking ground levels--a phenomenon formally called “subsidence”--the council unanimously voted Monday to appoint a 10-member Subsidence Committee.

Huntington Beach was once one of the world’s major active oil fields. Shortly after oil was discovered in 1920, the then-sleepy seaside village exploded into a petroleum boom town. Derricks crowded the beaches and streets, and even the back yards of houses in the city.

But by the 1960s, declining oil production and lower oil prices prompted many companies to sell the land for residential and commercial development, rather than for oil production.

While the city still has many active oil wells, the number is greatly reduced from the 1920s heyday. City officials have found, however, that oil production over a period of years has caused ground sinking in some parts of the city.

There has been disagreement among various officials in recent months on whether subsidence is still a major problem.

The new committee has been asked to make scientific studies on subsidence and to report the findings to Fire Chief Ray Picard. Picard, in turn, is to report to the City Council on possible ways to stop any further ground sinking.

The 10 committee members are Mayor Thomas J. Mays; Council members Peter M. Green and Jim Silva; Richard Grunbaum, representing the Fire Department; Jack Tebger, Independent Oil Producers Assn.; Richard Manuel, state Division of Oil and Gas; Larry Rinehart, Chevron USA; John Carmichael, Angus Petroleum Corp.; Ted Ehring, a geological consultant and president of P.I.C. Corp.; and Sub Sen of Shell Oil Co.