Passed 11/3/2014
WHEREAS, Termo Co. is asking to drill 12 new oil wells in the Aliso Canyon area of Porter Ranch to add to its 18 existing wells; Termo is using this site for fracking and acidizing; the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley and the California Democratic Party have called for a moratorium on fracking; DPSFV reaffirms that call for a statewide moratorium; and DPSFV expresses concern about the loss of property values that arises from fracking operations and associated pollution; and
WHEREAS, fracking and related injection have been shown to have caused thousands of earthquakes as large as magnitude 5.6 in Oklahoma and is strongly suspected of causing earthquakes elsewhere; the seismic impact of fracking in California is unknown; the proposed fracking in Porter Ranch is near the junctions of the faults that caused the magnitude 6.6 Sylmar earthquake in 1971 and the magnitude 6.7 Northridge earthquake in 1994; thus fracking in this location puts millions of residents of the San Fernando Valley and adjoining areas at great risk; and
WHEREAS, most of California has gone beyond severe drought and extreme drought to what NOAA and USDA call an exceptional drought; fracking consumes large amounts of water needed for agriculture, drinking, and other public use by pushing the water deep underground where it becomes unavailable for millennia; fracking uses large amounts of chemicals that contaminate the water supply and cause cancer; oil extraction and related methane leakage worsens climate change and creates risk of spills; oil operations in this area also add to the drought-heightened fire risk; oil operations add to air pollution problems where air quality in the Santa Clarita and West San Fernando Valley is already some of the worst in the Los Angeles area; and these oil wells will be within the Santa Susana Mountains / Simi Hills Sensitive Ecological Area;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley calls on the elected officials in our region to stop fracking in our area and to require an environmental impact report before there is any more drilling, and
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti, the Los Angeles City Council President Wesson, Los Angeles City Attorney Feuer, the Executive Office of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning.