Motions Passed to Phase Out Oil Drilling and Protect Frontline Workers and Communities

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Sept. 15, unanimously approved two landmark companion motions that set LA County on path to becoming the first in the nation to ban existing oil drilling — and transition fossil fuel workers to family sustaining careers in clean energy and other climate-friendly industries. 

The motions were led by Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell with co-authorship from Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Janice Hahn. 

Tens of thousands of county residents live in close proximity to an oil well and nearly 73% of those residents are people of color. Within unincorporated communities of LA County, there are approximately 1,600 active and idle oil wells. Over half of those wells are within the Inglewood Oil Field alone, making it the largest urban oil field in the nation, located in Los Angeles County’s Second Supervisorial District.

Mitchell’s motion titled Protecting Communities Near Oil and Gas Drilling Operations in Los Angeles County was co-authored by Supervisor Kuehl. It updates the Department of Regional Planning’s or DRP Draft Oil Well Ordinance for unincorporated LA County to prohibit all new oil and gas extraction wells in all zones and designates all existing oil and gas extraction activities as nonconforming uses in all zones. This motion also requests a report back from DRP in 120 days on the financial cost to phasing out oil operations with actionable steps the county can take, read the full motion here.  

Phasing out oil drilling requires a plan for transitioning workers on these sites into jobs and industries that are safe and provide family sustaining wages. This is the focus of Supervisor Mitchell’s motion: Developing a Comprehensive Strategy for a Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, co-authored by Supervisor Janice Hahn. This motion helps put into operation  recommendations from the county’s Just Transition to Clean Energy Task Force. The task force, in part, focuses on workers and frontline communities in workforce transition strategies that include all sectors of the fossil fuel industry. To read the full motion click here.

In 2019, the Board adopted the Our County Sustainability Plan, which included a comprehensive strategy for a more equitable LA County, and two key directives for protecting communities from oil wells: (1) addressing the proximity between oil and gas operations and sensitive land uses and (2) developing a sunset strategy for oil and gas operations. The motions passed today build on the County’s progress over the recent years to better regulate oil drilling and prioritize the public health and safety of its residents living near oil wells.

“Ending oil drilling in our communities is possible, and for the sake of our health and our climate, we must do so immediately. We look forward to working with the County to follow through on this vote by phasing out existing drilling as soon as possible, and we urge the rest of Los Angeles to follow suit,” Sierra Club Campaign Representative, Nicole Levin said.