Judge OKs decision to issue moratorium on drilling of new wells
The ongoing legal battle between Culver City and Plains Exploration & Production Company finally came to a head on one front Friday, March 26 when Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Chalfant ruled in favor of the city regarding its decision to place a moratorium on the drilling of new oil wells within city limits.
A hearing on the lawsuit — brought by PXP after the city declared the moratorium in August 2009 — took place Tuesday, March 23. Chalfant unveiled his ruling three days later in an 18-page decision, rejecting PXP’s arguments in seeking to invalidate the moratorium, which the city adopted in response to two separate incidents in early 2006 in which noxious gases were released into Culver City and surrounding communities during the drilling of new oil wells.
Soon after a vote by the Culver City City Council to adopt the moratorium PXP filed suit, claiming it was illegal and that the company had a vested right to drill new wells. The city argued the moratorium would provide time to craft a uniform oil drilling ordinance that would help insure the health and safety of residents who live near the oil field along Culver City’s southern border.
“The City’s right to regulate an existing use of land for oil production may reasonably include regulation of the number, location and manner of drilling new wells,” wrote Chalfant in his decision. “The City remains free to condition or even refuse to grant new drilling permits for unwarranted intensification or expansion of even a vested right. … A city could determine that an oil producing business has realized or will realize a sufficient return on its investment and a prohibition on oil production thereafter is justified.”
City leaders praised Chalfant’s decision, maintaining their position that they are simply seeking more time to craft an updated oil drilling ordinance. The moratorium is set to expire at the end of August, with the city able to request a one-year extension.
“I think that we’re extremely pleased because we believed all through this process that we had the legal authority to have the city adopt the moratorium,” said City Attorney Carol Schwab. “We are very pleased, and we think that the council showed great leadership in adopting the moratorium.”
“We had the court reaffirm the city’s right to consider necessary modifications to a drilling ordinance,” added Mayor Andrew Weissman. “That’s what we were seeking all along. The court agreed in essence. The purpose of the moratorium was to buy us the necessary time to do the job right.”
PXP officials offered a brief statement regarding the decision.
“Our suit was intended to expedite the city’s development of a new ordinance that governs development in the oil field. The judge’s ruling returns us to the status quo as it pertains to development in the Culver City portion of the oil field,” said John Martini, PXP’s manager of government affairs. “PXP does desire to ultimately work in cooperation with the city in developing a revised ordinance that makes sense.”
Martini declined comment when asked whether PXP plans to appeal the decision.
Meanwhile, a second lawsuit involving the city, Los Angeles County and PXP is slated to be heard at 9:30 a.m. Monday, April 5. That suit was brought by the city against the county in response to the latter’s adoption of a Community Standards District (CSD) in 2008.
The attorney who argued the moratorium case on the city’s behalf believes there could be a carryover effect.
“Many of the same issues that the court addressed (in the moratorium lawsuit) may well have an impact on the case that’s coming to hearing next week,” said Garrett Hanken of Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger LLP.
“There’s certainly good arguments that the decisions reached by the court in the moratorium case, at least on the same issues, should be reached in the county case.”
Editor Scott Tittrington can be reached at (310) 437-4401 ext. 210 or editor@culvercitynews.org.
