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The City of Hermosa Beach, located on the coast in Los Angeles County, California, called for a Special Election regarding oil drilling which took place on 3 March 2015.〔http://www.hermosabch.org/index.aspx?page=797〕 All of the materials prepared for the election on behalf of the City of Hermosa Beach were available on the city's website.〔(Hermosabch.org: index, page=738. )〕 The ballot measure, titled Measure O, presents to the electorate for its consideration an ordinance that proposes various legislative changes that would lift the ban on oil drilling within the City, to allow an oil drilling and production project proposed by E&B Natural Resources Management Corp. to go forward at the site of the City Maintenance Yard at 555 Sixth Street, a development agreement, as well as an oil and gas pipeline franchise. The question appeared on the ballot to which voters chose a “yes” or “no” answer to the following: "Shall E&B Corporation’s 34 well oil and gas drilling/production project at the City’s 555 Sixth Street maintenance yard be approved by 1) amending the General Plan and Municipal Code to exempt the project from the City’s oil drilling ban and repeal the restriction on City’s use of project royalties, 2) awarding a pipeline franchise to transport oil/gas underground, 3) approving a 34 year development agreement, and 4) determining that project financial benefits outweigh its unavoidable environmental impacts?" 〔http://www.hermosabch.org/index.aspx?page=739〕 In preparation for the election, the City of Hermosa Beach prepared an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in compliance with the Environmental Quality Act, as well as a Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) and Health Impact Assessment (HIA), and provided an extensive community education and review process.〔http://www.hermosabch.org/index.aspx?page=738〕 E&B Natural Resources, the company behind the proposed Oil Drilling and Production Project, looks to access oil fields located offshore from a single onshore location using directional drilling technology.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Hermosa Beach Oil Drilling Summary and Facts | E&B Natural Resources )〕 The proposed project is the result of a recently resolved legal battle between the city and the Macpherson Energy Corporation, in which Macpherson sued the city for damages over a previous plan that the city backed out of. The plan has been met with controversy, as residents are divided over the promise of an economic windfall versus potential health and environmental impacts on the community. ==Background: History of the Proposed Oil Drilling Project== A complete summary of important dates surrounding cases regarding Oil Drilling in Hermosa Beach can be accessed through the following link located on the City of Hermosa Beach website: http://www.hermosabch.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=1660. The current proposal from E&B Natural Resources to recover oil in Hermosa Beach is the result of a series of voter-approved initiatives and legal settlements stretching back to 1984. Following voter approval of two initiatives to allow for oil drilling at this site in 1984, the City Council approved an agreement and a 35-year lease with Macpherson Oil Company to recover oil from the huge oil reservoir underneath the City. In 1995, voters reversed their previous approval and Macpherson then sued the City for more than $700 million. To put that number into perspective, Hermosa Beach’s annual budget is about $30 million. After losing at trial and prior to the start of the damages trial, the City hired jury experts who conducted independent “Mock Trials” to determine the amount of damages a jury might award Macpherson. The mock jurors awarded Macpherson hundreds of millions of dollars. A copy of these mock jury decisions can be found online at the City of Hermosa Beach’s website. A judgment of this size against Hermosa Beach would have bankrupted the City. Following the advice of the City Attorney, outside legal counsel and the jury experts, the City negotiated a settlement that included the payment of $30 million to Macpherson. At this point E&B stepped in and paid $12.5 million to Macpherson and received their rights to the project, plus E&B loaned the City their share of the settlement payment – $17.5 million. The settlement called for E&B to submit an application to the City that would include an exhaustive Environmental Impact Report as well as other financial and community studies. Following their review, the City will submit to the voters a new proposal to allow the safe recovery of oil from the same site. You can review the City’s overview of the project’s history on the “Proposed Oil Production Project” section of the City’s website. If the voters reject the proposal, the City will be required to repay the $17.5 million loan (plus interest) it received from E&B to pay its share of the settlement. If the proposed oil recovery project is approved, E&B will forgive $14 million and allow the balance to be paid from the City’s royalties from the oil produced. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hermosa Beach oil drilling controversy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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