Los Angeles County supervisors voted to phase out oil and gas drilling in the county and bar any new drilling sites in the county’s unincorporated areas, meaning 1,600 sites will be systematically closed, the Associated Press reports.
The most-populous county in the United States, LA County’s ban passed unanimously by the five member board of supervisors. The county acted months after a pipeline leak at the Inglewood Oil Field, a sprawling 1,000 acre drilling site that borders a number of traditionally Black neighborhoods. The leak spread more than 1,600 gallons of oil on the field, and neighbors have complained about the odor and oil bubbling up from the sidewalks.
“There are tens of thousands of people who live in very close proximity to oil wells, 73% of whom are people of color,” Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell said in an interview before the vote. “So, for me, it really is an equity issue.”
Unsurprisingly, the California Independent Petroleum Association opposed the proposal, saying a ban would cost thousands of jobs among its 400 members and lead to higher gas prices. Oil production has occurred in Los Angeles County since the 1890s. Inglewood Oil Field produces from 2.5 to 3.1 million barrels of oil each year.