Local Panel Hears Concerns
Three thousand miles from Culver City on the morning of December 14, a tragic shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut was having repercussions all over the world.
At Veterans’ Auditorium that morning, a group of community members spoke to a panel consisting of Mayor Andrew Weissman, Council member Meghan Sahli-Wells, and Assembly member Holly J. Mitchell, on the subject of hydraulic fracturing (also know as fracking) to obtain oil and gas from rock. But they were not so far from the subject of the world’s concern—they were also concerned about the safety of children.
“The World Bank has made projections about what your children can expect by the year 2050,” said Dr. Suzanne DeBenedittis, a longtime anti-fracking activist. “The calamitous weather we have been seeing will be the norm rather than the exception. Droughts and wildfires, climate change will affect food production.
“These climate studies have been going on since the 1970s. But no one paid attention to them until now when the predictions are starting to come true.”
She compared the climate studies to the work now being done to learn the short and long-range effects of hydraulic fracturing.
“We need educational symposiums,” she added. ”We need to educate people about the costs, the risks, and the benefits.”
DeBenedittis was one of more than a dozen people who offered their research results and concerns to the panel as part of a public hearing on fracking scheduled by the Culver City Council in order to prepare for a review of the city’s oil and gas regulation ordinance, upcoming at the beginning of next year.
Sherry Jordan, of the City Planning Department, began the meeting by explaining that the revisions for the ordinance will take place as part of a CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) process. There will be a community meeting during that process where comments by the community will be considered prior to drafting the new ordinance.
The comments heard following Jordan’s introduction were not much different from comments made at previous City Council and community meetings. In addition to DeBenedittis, speakers included familiar activists such as Dr. Tom Williams, Tom Camarella, Michelle Weiner, Rick and Rebecca Rona-Tuttle, and a man identified as “John Q. Public,” who pleaded with the panel to ban fracking for the sake of future children and said “Help me have a child.”
Brenna Norton of Food and Water Watch asked for a “promise” from the City Council to halt fracking and for the state of California to also promise a halt to the process “until it can be proven safe.”
Lance Simmons, who listed his many credentials in public policy and government over the years, said he had had first-hand experience witnessing the effects of fracking in the state of Pennsylvania (including oil spills and explosions).
“I can only tell you that the best we can do here in California is to take our time—study the issue—but please try to identify the long-term impacts.”
Several other speakers sounded the same warning: despite the desire to see an immediate halt to what they say is a dangerous practice, the activists don’t want to see hasty actions that might be easily overturned by legal technicalities or that might not be environmentally sound decisions.
“The Government has rarely been known to move too quickly,” said Mayor Weissman. “No subject has been the focus of as much discussion as this one. We’re going to take as much time as is required.”
Because of the 9:30 a.m. meeting time, many people who wanted to attend, including students and working people, were unable to voice their concerns. Weissman said after the first of the year, another meeting will be scheduled, in the evening, possibly as part of a City Council meeting, where more testimony on the pros and cons of hydraulic fracturing will be heard.
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