Los Angeles County has voted to end oil&gas drilling

Los Angeles County supervisors on Wednesday voted to ban drilling in unincorporated areas and to end oil&gas drilling. There are currently 1,046 active wells, 637 idle wells, and 2,731 abandoned wells in unincorporated areas of the nation’s most populous county. The Board also voted to create a program to ensure that wells are properly closed and cleaned up, and to expand the county’s task force focused on a just transition for fossil fuel workers and communities. Among the sites is the Inglewood Oil Field, one of the largest U.S. urban oil fields. Inglewood Oil Field is adjacent to several communities, including Baldwin Hills, Ladera Heights and View Park, where residents have worried about the field’s impact on their health and the local environment for at least a decade. Residents have complained of foul odors from the wells and say they have seen oil bubbling through sidewalk cracks in their neighbourhoods.