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The Murphy Drill Site in the Jefferson Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. <\/p>\n
(<\/p>\n
Sarah Craig<\/p>\n
\/<\/p>\n
Faces of Fracking<\/p>\n
)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is really the \u200abest chance we have ever had to see this toxic industrial site shut down and removed from our neighborhood,\u201d longtime South L.A. resident Richard Parks said at a recent community town hall at a church down the road from the drill site. Parks is the president of the nonprofit Redeemer Community Partnership, a group that has spearheaded the shutdown effort.<\/p>\n
In response to questions from LAist, a spokesperson for E&B emphasized the company\u2019s compliance with regulations and said the facility \u201cplays an important role in supplying locally produced petroleum to the Los Angeles Basin.\u201d<\/p>\n
The spokesperson also pointed to a July report the company commissioned from environmental consulting firm Roux Associates<\/a>. The report says \u201cthe administrative record contains no scientific evidence that the Murphy site jeopardizes or adversely affects public health or safety of nearby residents or workers.\u201d<\/p>\n How to participate in the hearing about the Murphy drill site<\/p>\n What: The City of L.A.\u2019s Office of Zoning Administration is holding a hearing to consider revoking E&B Natural Resource\u2019s permit to operate the Murphy drill site. That could result in the site being permanently shut down. Residents can provide testimony by attending the virtual hearing (details below) or submit a comment ahead of time here<\/a> or by emailing Roni.Giron@lacity.org. <\/p>\n When: 10 a.m. Thursday<\/p>\n Where: Online via Zoom: https:\/\/planning-lacity-org.zoom.us\/j\/86580392586<\/a> By phone: (213) 338-8477 or (669) 900-9128<\/p>\n When prompted, enter the meeting ID: 865 8039 2586 #<\/p>\n Daniel Murphy’s home was a sprawling estate on West Adams Boulevard in the early 20th century. <\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Courtesy L.A. Public Library<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n Why an oil drilling site is in the middle of a neighborhood\u00a0<\/p>\n What\u2019s known as the Murphy drill site on West Adams Boulevard sits atop the vast Las Cienegas oil field.<\/p>\n The site\u2019s name comes from Daniel Murphy, a business tycoon who lived on an estate there in the early 20th century.<\/p>\n Murphy, who made his money in cement, oil and railroads, was also a devout Roman Catholic, so after his death, his family donated the property to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. For decades, the Archdiocese has leased the property to various oil companies. Most recently, the site has been operated by E&B Natural Resources.<\/p>\n In a statement, the Archdiocese told LAist it “has no direct control over the facility” and that “the health and well-being of the community remain a priority.” It added that the Church understands E&B has complied with regulations “and has taken efforts to address the concerns of the community.” <\/p>\n Although oil wells are present throughout Los Angeles, the effects are largely unequal. Through the mid-20th century, racist housing laws and discriminatory lending practices relegated people of color to certain neighborhoods. <\/p>\n Jefferson Park was one of those redlined neighborhoods and remains home to mostly Black and Latino residents. <\/p>\n A 2022 study<\/a> found twice the number of oil and gas wells in historically redlined neighborhoods, with L.A. topping the list.<\/p>\n A Google maps screenshot of the Murphy drill site, owned by E & B Natural Resources, in the Jefferson Park neighborhood of L.A. <\/p>\n How much oil is produced at the Murphy drill site?\u00a0<\/p>\n Since 2018, Oildale, California-based E&B Natural Resources has operated the Murphy drill site.<\/p>\n Production of crude oil at the site peaked in 1973 at about 1,588 barrels per day, and of natural gas in 1981 at about 533 barrels, according to a 2024 amortization study commissioned by the city<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ever since, production has declined. In 2022, E&B extracted some 251 barrels per day of oil and 21 barrels of natural gas from the Murphy site \u2014 a relatively small amount by oil production standards. All oil drilling within L.A. city limits now makes up less than 2% of the state\u2019s oil.<\/p>\n In a statement to LAist, a spokesperson for E&B said the site remains valuable.<\/p>\n \u201cMaintaining responsible local production also helps meet regional energy needs with resources produced close to where they are ultimately consumed,\u201d the company spokesperson wrote.<\/p>\n Where oil and gas comes from in California. <\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Courtesy CJM Petroleum Consulting Inc. <\/p>\n )<\/p>\n The health effects of living near oil drilling<\/p>\n Today, it\u2019s easy to miss the Murphy drill site. A mass of piping and oil wells is hidden behind a wall and manicured hedges, and next door to low-income apartments, an AIDS Healthcare Foundation clinic and an education center for children with hearing loss. A church, library, elementary school and high school are also nearby.<\/p>\n At the convent directly behind the site, Roman Catholic nuns are tasked with caring for the sick who call for them.<\/p>\n On a recent afternoon, Sister Claudia \u200aof the Servants of Mary told LAist in Spanish that dark soot often covers the roof and walls of the building.<\/p>\n \u201cA black dust settles even on the leaves of the trees and gets into the house,” she said.<\/p>\n [\u201cUn polvo negro que se queda hasta en las hojas de los \u00e1rboles y entra a la casa.”]<\/p>\n Many of the sisters have allergies they never had before living there, she said, and two of the sisters have cancer.<\/p>\n Sister Claudia, left, and Sister Maria de Jesus of the Servants of Mary convent in Jefferson Park. <\/p>\n Since at least 2014, the site has been the cause of dozens of complaints to local air quality regulators. People who live or work nearby have reported strong oil and chemical odors, noise and other concerns, according to records obtained by local nonprofit Redeemer Community Partnership<\/a> and shared with LAist.<\/p>\n For more than a decade, the group and its partners<\/a> have organized to gain more protections on the site and, ultimately, shut the drilling down.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve gathered the experiences of nearby residents, many of whom have suffered multiple miscarriages, respiratory illness and cancer. Numerous studies have found that people living near oil wells, which have been found to leak carcinogens like benzene<\/a>, are more likely to have higher rates of asthma<\/a>, preterm births<\/a> and cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n But such research is not enough to shut a site down, and it\u2019s hard to prove exactly where those illnesses come from. So over the last decade, academic researchers have partnered with the community to try to do just that.<\/p>\n \u201cThe burden is often placed on the community to prove they’re being harmed,\u201d said Jill Johnston, an environmental health researcher at U.C. Irvine and previously USC, where she led the oil drilling research. \u201c\u200aWe’re trying to establish some of this data-driven evidence to support the observations that people have experienced for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n The researchers and community members installed air monitors near Murphy and another nearby drill site. They found that<\/a> the closer to the site people lived, the more likely they were to have reduced lung function.<\/p>\n \u201cThe amount of reduction we see is similar to what you would experience from living with a smoker,\u201d Johnston said.<\/p>\n E&B disputes the findings, arguing that it did not measure “actual site emissions or exposure and cannot establish causation.”<\/p>\n In another study, the researchers partnered with the community to collect hundreds of toenail clippings to measure toxic metals associated with oil drilling. They compared them to clippings from people not near drill sites.<\/p>\n \u201cThe closer you live to an oil drilling site, the more production it has, the more nickel <\/a>and manganese<\/a> that you have in your body,\u201d Johnson said, explaining the study\u2019s findings<\/a> at a recent town hall ahead of the Thursday hearing.<\/p>\n Too much of such metals in the body can lead to a variety of symptoms, including respiratory <\/a>and nervous system<\/a> issues. At high exposure levels, nickel<\/a> has been linked to an increased risk of cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n Signs in various languages warn of the potential for dangerous gas at the Murphy drill site.<\/p>\n The Murphy drill site is in a neighborhood with a convent, homes and schools.<\/p>\n How to shut down a drill site<\/p>\n The organizing paid off. In 2023, the community won a hearing from the city to consider adding new regulations to protect public health. Those new rules would extend protections currently in use in wealthier, whiter parts of L.A. They included enclosing the site<\/a> and using electric equipment instead of diesel where possible. E&B\u2019s permit also limits operations to between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.<\/p>\n But after an appeal from E&B, the city rolled many requirements back. For example, the site no longer is required to use electric equipment \u2014 E&B recently started burning more gas for electricity on site.<\/p>\n The site is also still not enclosed, despite the three-year-old mandate from the city. Neighbors say they have on multiple occasions seen, heard or smelled operations outside of the allowed hours. <\/p>\n \u201c\u200aThey know the rules, but they choose not to follow them,\u201d Parks said.<\/p>\n In a statement to LAist, a spokesperson for E&B said the enclosing of the site has been delayed due to complex permitting requirements from the city and that the company \u201cis awaiting action by the city on the necessary approvals.\u201d<\/p>\n In recent years, under E&B\u2019s purview, the Murphy site has logged dozens of violations<\/a> from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the state and the L.A. Fire Department, according to public records obtained by Redeemer Community Partnership and shared with LAist, as well as publicly available data.<\/p>\n Since 2019, some of the most concerning violations have been for at least four methane leaks greater than 50,000 parts per million \u2014 the explosive level of the gas. In January last year, an inspector identified a leak at 209,000 parts per million, four times that limit.<\/p>\n Outside of L.A., the state recently fined the company more than $1 million for violations at a site in Bakersfield, which the company has appealed.<\/p>\n Now, the city is considering revoking E&B\u2019s permit to operate the site. City Councilmember Heather Hutt, who represents the area, called for a hearing after being presented with the evidence from local residents.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city and the community\u2019s attempts to regulate and mitigate this site over the decades has failed,\u201d Hutt wrote in a letter to the city\u2019s zoning administrator<\/a> ahead of the Thursday hearing. \u201cI am calling for the zoning administrator to revoke this use and continue to reset the balance between community needs and corporate laxity in urban Los Angeles.\u201d<\/p>\n Neighbors of the Murphy drill site have been fighting to get it shut down for years. They held a town hall July 18.<\/p>\n Signs and slogans were common at the July 18 town hall. Others read “Save South L.A.” and “End neighborhood drilling.”<\/p>\n What\u2019s next<\/p>\n
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