New Whittier Oil Exploitation Pollution Threatens Whittier College
Students
Matrix Oil Corp., based in Santa Barbara, looks set to extract oil on City of
Whittier land located approximately one mile upwind of the Whittier College
campus. Matrix Oil's Santa Barbara neighbor, non-profit Los Padres ForestWatch,
warns us of the consequences of profiting from oil extraction in California's
hills, even those some distance from human communities:
"Drilling requires a vast network of roads, pipelines, transmission wires,
and other infrastructure. While the footprint of this infrastructure may be
relatively small, the impacts spill across a much larger area. A single oil
derrick can ruin the views of an entire landscape, a narrow pipeline can bisect
an entire watershed, and air pollution can extend as much as 200 miles from
a drilling site." - 'Myths & Facts About the Los Padres Oil & Gas
Drilling Decision', prepared by Los Padres ForestWatch.
"Matrix is looking to expand the oil drilling about one mile north of campus
on Honolulu Terrace. A lone oil derrick exists on the hill flanked by storage
tanks across the street, but one day may become hundreds," writes Quaker
Campus' Neal Behrendt in the student paper's 4/10/08 issue.
"The Whittier Hills...host...wildlife, recreation, and housing. ...oil
derricks would damage all three by polluting and disrupting the area,"
observes Behrendt. "When the City purchased the 1,200 acres...they had
to remove hundreds of oil derricks."
According to Behrendt, The City of Whittier "is willing to sell 1,200 acres
for an expected revenue of $600,000 per year." This municipal income less
than that received annually by the Beverly Hills Unified School District and
the City of Beverly Hills for oil pumped out from under the Beverly Hills High
School campus, and adjacent area by slant drilling, and the Beverly Hills experience
is instructive...
There have been many lawsuits against Venoco Inc., the best-known involving
Erin Brockovich and Ed Masry, on behalf of former BHHS students who blame their
early cancers on pollution from Venoco's Beverly Hills oil and gas operation.
While cancer-stricken former students have failed to prevail in their lawsuits,
the South Coast Air Quality Management District has fined Venoco Inc., after
issuing three notices of violations by the company, and the AQMD has ordered
complete cessation of oilfield gases venting, and continuous monitoring, to
be paid for by Venoco, of the air affected by any such release. In 2007, Joy
Horowitz's book on Beverly Hills oil and lawsuits, Parts Per Million: The Poisoning
of Beverly Hills High School, was published.
The Mayor of Whittier, Owen Newcomer, is also a faculty member at Whittier College,
and he has greater political ambitions. If Mayor Newcomer doesn't have the leadership
abilities to put a stop to this new oil deal, to protect his students and constituents,
then he should abandon his then overambitious political plans. And let's not
forget for a moment who calls the shots in Whittier... If Whittier College wants
this oil deal stopped, it'll be stopped; and, if the deal goes through, then
it's with Whittier College's blessing.
And remember, too, that it was local oil money that underwrote Dick Nixon's
political ambitions from their beginning to beyond the (local oilmen's Nixon
slush) Fund or Checkers Speech; it seems, sadly, safe enough to put your wager
on Whittier endangering student and all community members' health for some money,
which will likely end up paying for only part of the consequent lawsuits against
the City of Whittier and Matrix Oil.
The heirs apparent of Whittier, the city's Latino majority, unable so far to
put a single Latino on the lily white Whittier City Council, are going to find
there's nothing more left to them than was left to African-Americans inheriting
so many U. S. urban cores. Whittier College's strategy? Finding new suckers
in mainland China?
'Toxic School?' A CBS Special Assignment Investigation:
http://www.rajuabju.com/pasthomepagefeatures10.htm
Photo of Beverly Hills High School campus oil derrick, ironically beautified
by young cancer patients:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-04-28-bevhills-usat_x.htm
'Crude Awakening Arises at Burning Man' by Lane Hartwell. August 29, 2007.
Bigger than life performance art: http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2007/08/crude-awakening.html
'Myths & Facts About The Los Padres Oil & Gas Drilling Decision' prepared
by Los Padres ForestWatch based in Santa Barbara: http://www.lpfw.org/docs/Oil/OilMyths&Facts.pdf
Update
Usually a small liberal arts college in a small town is
a case of a liberal college and a conservative town, but in the case of Whittier
College and Whittier - despite the fact that Whittier is racist and corrupt
(this Latino-majority town's city council is composed of four White males and
one White female), the 'Whittier Daily News' is still arguably a product of
journalism, while Whittier College's 'Quaker Campus' student paper / web site
is staffed by either manipulated administration tools or sellouts - either way
resulting in a product decidedly less than journalistic in nature.
One Von-Paul Cook's 'Potential liquid gold causes stir' article in 'Quaker Campus'
(2-17-11) is completely misleading, dishonest, and shameful. Cook quotes local
ex-Chevron exec Ray Schmidt claiming that oil under the Whittier Hills can be
extracted, processed, and transported with no problems. Cook not only didn't
look into Schmidt's and Chevron's history of exploiting oil in Whittier, which
includes numerous problems, including an explosion adjacent to residential Honolulu
Terrace, but Cook sought no other expert opinions. Even the local 'Whittier
Daily News' did that, in one of a series of articles on this issue, 'Experts
disagree over health issues from Whittier oil-drilling proposal' (12-11-10)
by reporter Mike Sprague, even though Sprague's article title is still misleading
in that an oil company executive is not expert in health issues in relation
to oil extraction or at all.
Sprague presented ex-Chevron exec Ray Schmidt's see-hear-speak-no evil babble
we've heard from him before, babble that oozes out of the holes of oil company
execs from Chevron to BP to Matrix, and the warning words of local Dr. Bob Florin,
who says we'll see increases in "respiratory diseases like asthma, pneumonia
and bronchitis" and "lung cancer". Gee, we wonder who to believe,
an oil company exec who has a history of misrepresenting the consequences of
local oil exploitation and has no medical education, or a member of the medical
profession who has seen the health consequences of exploitation of this very
oil field?
After neglecting to present a medical opinion, only an oil industry exec's spin,
Cook then misleads readers to believe renewed drilling is a fait accompli -
"The main concern...is whether the city will properly utilize the new source
of funding" - which is very far from the fact case. If 'Quaker Campus'
has any integrity left at all, then Cook needs the boot. (If drilling is renewed,
we suggest the City of Whittier put all the money from Matrix Oil in a fund
to pay for all the lawsuits and claims that are going to result...)
Speaking of Lawsuits Against Matrix Oil et al...
Bonnie Delaney et al v Matrix Oil Corporation et al
Los Angeles County Superior Court, Case No. VC 046677
Bonnie Delaney was the wife of Herbert Delaney, Jr., who worked for Pool Well
Services Co. that subcontracted work at Matrix Oil's Honolulu Terrace site at
which an explosion and resulting fire occurred on May 19, 2005 - an explosion
that killed Herbert Delaney and fire that severely burned two more Pool Well
Services workers, and spewed carcinogens and other toxic materials into this
and neighboring communities air. (See 'Oil Well Fire Continues to Burn', Whittier
Daily News, May 20, 2005) The Delaneys had three children.
Matrix Oil, in the course of threatening Whittier Hills Oil Watch (WHOW) for
the non-profit's release of information about the Delaney v Matrix suit settlement,
falsely claimed that Herbert Delaney was a Matrix employee. The Superior Court
decision, despite Matrix's (habitual) misrepresentations, was clearly based
on the fact that Mr. Delaney's employer was Pool Well Services, not Matrix Oil,
and that Pool Well Services was a subcontractor operating on site without adequate
oversight by Matrix. Bonnie Delaney et al were awarded $3.075 mil.
Support and get involved with Whittier Hills Oil Watch
and keep up with developments at http://www.whittierhillsoilwatch.org/
Here's what's developing regarding the proposed renewal
of oil exploitation in Whittier:
The following groups are adamantly opposed to renewed oil exploitation in Whittier:
Whittier Hills Oil Watch, The Sierra Club, Hills for Everyone, and Los Angeles
County's Puente Hills Landfill Native Habitat Preservation Authority, among
others. See 'L A County becomes latest party to criticize report on Whittier
oil-drilling' by Mike Sprague ('Whittier Daily News', 1-17-11). The EIR (Environmental
Impacts Report) deficiencies are explained in 'Oil-drilling report on effects
on wildlife, vegetation needs more work, Habitat Authority says', again by Mike
Sprague ('Whittier Daily News', 11-28-10).
Now, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ann Jones is allowing a lawsuit
to stop the City of Whittier and Matrix Oil from reopening the Whittier Hills
oil field filed by Open Space Legal Fund to proceed - after efforts to stop
the case from advancing failed - 'L A Superior Court judge...allows...case to
advance' by Mike Sprague ('Whittier Daily News', 1-31-11). None of these facts
appears in Von-Paul Cook's oil exploitation propaganda piece published by 'Quaker
Campus'. The proposed renewal of oil exploitation in the Whittier Hills is in
fact and indeed very far from a fait accompli.
Whittier College students, who need to know the fact case to know how best to
act in their own defense, how best act to protect their health, instead of being
informed, are being inexcusably misled to be apathetic at the very moment when
they need to act, by Cook and 'Quaker Campus'. Obviously, ASWC needs to take
a long hard look at what students are and aren't getting from the student publication
for which students are paying, and then make some positive and effective changes.
The 'Quaker Campus' advisor needs to be booted and ASWC funds made contingent
upon Quaker Campus serving student interests, which more and more at Whittier
College are no longer the same as the objectives of this increasingly errant
administration.
"Dan Duran, president of the anti-oil-drilling Whittier Hills Oil Watch..."
said, "(Matrix) has a vast supply of money and is trying to buy as much
influence as it can", and "It's a reality that Matrix has the deep
pockets to spend as much as they need to spend to sway public opinion."
- 'Matrix Oil launches massive public relations campaign' by Mike Sprague ('Whittier
Daily News', 1-3-11). The only question of Von-Paul Cook is whether he's a mouthpiece
for the Whittier College administration and Matrix Oil or a mouthpiece for the
Whittier College administration and Matrix Oil?
Related issues are being raised so fast it's difficult to keep track of them.
An example close to home for Whittier College students, faculty, and staff,
is traffic proposed for Penn Street. As students should be aware, Penn Street
residents are already fed up with the increased traffic and parking problems
and student misbehaviors affecting their neighborhood exacerbated by construction
on campus this academic year, which construction should have taken place during
summer months. Penn Street residents already have to cope with normal school
traffic in addition to Penn Park traffic and parking pressures, and the usual
118 trash truck trips per day (and City of Whittier landfill traffic on Penn
Street has been as high as 259 trips per day these days due to construction
projects, not the least of them on the Whittier College campus). Now, Matrix
Oil wants to use Penn Street, too.
According to Mike Sprague's 'Penn Street residents oppose plan to have oil-drilling
traffic use their road' ('Whittier Daily News', 12-4-10):
""It's reckless for them to consider Penn Street as a road for the
oil tankers to come in and out on a daily basis," said (resident) Yvette
Martinez.
"It's not the place to be sending that sort of dangerous combustible material
running through our neighborhood," Martinez said. "We have children,
families and college students."
In addition to the traffic pollution
and explosive accident issues, hidden costs will eventually reveal themselves...
"...flacks routinely make extravagant promises about bringing jobs and
income... ...those jobs and royalties don't come...
"In a devastating admission, the industry now acknowledges that it absolutely
cannot afford to pay localities the costs of roads damaged from the thousands
of truck trips per wellhead, leaving those ruinous costs to local taxpayers...
"...local communities are finding the costs of...drilling to be ruinous
contaminated well water, poisoned air, nuisance noise and dust, diminished properties
and collapsing quality of life are...the predictable collateral damage..."
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (excerpts from his excellent N Y Times piece
on carbon exploitation in the United States)
Fracking used in oil as well as in gas extraction
While Kennedy and others are focusing on fracking and gas extraction, it's important
to know that fracking is also used in oil extraction. Fracking has been employed
at the Inglewood oil field only several miles from Whittier and all over California
for years, as well as being part of plans to extract gas from California's Sierra
Nevada shale deposits.
And if there aren't concerns about fracking pollution liability, then why does
the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 contain a virtual confession of that concern
in the form of exemptions from the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water
Act?
It's a pity that narcissistic Whittier College students
aren't as concerned about their Whittier neighbors as these neighbors are concerned
about students. Certainly these neighbors have shown patience toward students
during the College's badly scheduled major construction work that, sadly, is
largely undeserved. Whittier College students working together with Whittier
neighbors to protect the local environment and all residents' health from renewed
oil exploitation pollution would go a long way toward some redemption in this
respect.
And Whittier College touts its Green consciousness, and at least as of this
writing still has a law school, so for this school to be missing in action is
to suggest the Whittier Old Guard expect just that. Whittier College will be
degraded by oil exploitation adjacent to campus, period. Whittier Law School
should have filed an amicus curiae brief, should have made itself a friend of
the court, in support of the Open Space Legal Fund challenge to the City of
Whittier and Matrix Oil now being heard in the Superior Court. Whittier College
is not acting in loco parentis in this regard; indeed, this school is negligent
at best, and acting against students' best interest at worst, but we're seeing
the worst from this administration and these trustees more and more as time
goes on.
Mike Sprague's article continued, "Valerie Shatyuski called the issue one
of "environmental justice," saying city officials should be ashamed
of themselves.
""There are roughly 500 people living on Penn Street between Painter
and the entrance to the landfill," Shatyuski said. "This area has
the lowest income of all the alternatives considered."
"Maurice Salcedo, speaking for residents of streets like Canyon Crest Road,
who use Penn Street, says that "With the construction already happening
at Whittier College and garbage trucks, we already have limited access to Penn
Street. It would be a lot worse.""
Whittier College students - and faculty and staff - should make themselves an
important part of the campaign to stop the renewal of oil exploitation in the
Whittier Hills, now, no matter what this College's administration and trustees,
and lickspittle sellouts like Von-Paul Cook and so 'Quaker Campus', say or do
- because the health of everyone and every living thing in the area will suffer
if the City of Whittier and Whittier College Old Guard and their partners in
crime like Matrix Oil are allowed to profit from the oil remaining under the
Whittier Hills at our expense. Whittier oil money helped Dick Nixon disgrace
himself, Whittier, and Whittier College, and that money hasn't gotten any cleaner.
We don't need anymore Dirty Tricks or dirty air. Matrix Oil: Get out of Whittier!
And hopefully your running dogs will follow you...