Letter to the Editor from E&B's President

Dear Ms. Spear: 

Thank you for the article highlighting our application to locate, build and operate an oil production facility from the site of the current location of the City’s maintenance facility.

As our application demonstrates, science and new technology now enables the safe recovery of offshore oil from a single, onshore location. We are proposing to utilize environmentally responsible directional drilling technology to safely recover oil, protect both the coast and surrounding neighborhoods, and provide a new revenue stream to the City and schools of Hermosa Beach.

The project concentrates all resource recovery, ultimately up to 30 producing wells, and also up to 4 return water injection wells, contained in a well cellar, at the single 1.3-acre site. The location is a light industrial, mixed use area, and in the past the site was utilized as the City’s landfill, and also housed earlier oil recovery operations.

Importantly, our project application documents that no controversial shale “hydraulic fracking” technology will be used for recovery. And, it describes how all recovery and processing operations will be fully contained, utilizing a closed loop system, that will protect the neighborhood and surrounding community from the risk of spill or accident. 

Finally, the rig heights and increased traffic that we’ve heard concerns about are temporary -- related only to construction or maintenance. Normal production operations will have less traffic than the current use, and will be quietly maintained behind a landscaped 16-foot split-block wall border, with a 10 foot setback from Valley Dr., along with street improvements and undergrounding of utility lines.

We appreciate continuing coverage of this important local issue in Hermosa Beach. We remain confident that ongoing news and information about this project, as it moves through the City’s public review process, will reveal both its benefits and environmental protections. We are confident that this will enable residents to make an informed choice in a future vote to allow this project to move forward to deliver needed new revenues to the City and its schools. 

Sincerely,

Steve Layton, President
E&B Natural Resources