Urban Development of Oil Fields in the LA Basin Area, 1983 to 2001

Abstract

Since 1983, construction-site projects in the Los Angeles Basin area have been reviewed under the Construction-Site Plan Review Program of the Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources. Under its auspices and before issuing building permits, local permitting agencies review and implement the division's pre-construction, oil-well recommendations and requirements. Oil-well proximity to proposed structures statistics derived from division data suggest there are three types of urbanized oil fields in the Los Angeles Basin area. This information may prove valuable to anyone involved in oilfield land development. Introduction The Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (division) is charged with implementing Section 3208.1(a) of the Public Resources Code, which states, in part, that "To prevent, as far as possible, damage to life, health, and property, the supervisor or district deputy may order the reabandonment of any previously abandoned well...because the owner of the property on which the well is located proposes construction on the property that would prevent or impede access to the well for purposes of remedying a currently perceived future problem." After the statute was enacted in 1983, the division developed the "Construction-Site Plan Review Program," which assists local permitting agencies that regulate land-use development by identifying and reviewing the status of oil wells near or beneath proposed structures. Los Angeles Basin Area and Local Permitting Agencies The division's District 1 staff is responsible for the Construction-Site Plan Review Program in the Los Angeles Basin area (Fig. 1). Urban development here is a model for residential, commercial, and industrial development in oil fields because the area contains 44 producing oil fields, 3 inactive oil fields, and 22 abandoned oil fields. Each oil field occupies an area where one or more local permitting agencies regulate land use and issue building permits. Incorporated cities generally are the local permitting agencies for portions of oil fields falling within their boundaries. The county is the local permitting agency for portions of oil fields outside of incorporated city boundaries. Fire departments also may have authority for granting and reviewing building permits. As an example, the Huntington Beach Fire Department grants building permits for construction projects within the City of Huntington Beach. Oilfield Maps and Construction-Site Plan Reviews Local permitting agencies regularly receive updated division oilfield maps with approximate oil-well locations and division administrative boundaries for oil and gas fields. When developers apply to local permitting agencies for building permits, agency representatives plot the project locations on these maps. If oil wells are located near or within a project's boundaries, the local permitting agency refers the developer to the division for assistance. The developer must follow the requirements of the division's Construction-Site Plan Review Program, including those of the project-evaluation letter listing recommendations and requirements for each well on the project site. A typical project-evaluation letter will state whether or not a well must be plugged and abandoned or reabandoned, tested for leaks, and offer recommendations for surface-gas control (Fig. 2).

Respiratory health, pulmonary function and local engagement in urban communities near oil development

“…Los Angeles (LA) County, CA, is home to one of the most petroleumdense basins in the world, with thousands of oil and gas extraction wells spread across multiple oil fields in 70 different communities (Fig. 1a) (Chilingar and Endres, 2005;Gamache and Frost, 2003). Approximately 1/3rd of the 10 million LA County residents live <1 mile of an active oil drilling site, and over 500,000 residents live <¼ mile (~400 m) (Sadd and Shamasunder, 2015).…”