Residents of a South Los Angeles neighborhood have railed against a petroleum firm about its plans to burn off excess gas at its Adams Boulevard drilling site.
Freeport-McMoRan operates the site near Gramercy Place and said an enclosed burner is needed as a backup method to dispose of unused gas that is pulled from underground along with crude oil. The company has reportedly informed residents and city hall that the proposed equipment will make little noise, take up a minimum amount of space and produce “near zero” emissions.
Neighbors, however, are challenging the plan arguing that it is wasteful to burn gas that could eventually create electricity. They want the city—particularly Councilman Herb Wesson of the 10th District—to look more closely at the environmental effects of drilling at the site even if the company installs the new burner. A city zoning commissioner will decide whether the burner should be installed, and this piece of equipment has been the main argument causing tensions among residents.
“This should be unacceptable anywhere, but it is far worse in the middle of a densely populated neighborhood,” said West Adams resident Michael Salman. He told the Los Angeles Times recently that the burner would amount to nothing more than “pure pollution,” adding that the exhaust provides no beneficial use for the community. “This is adjacent to apartments and a healthcare clinic. The gas which will be extracted will not serve residents in terms of everyday use such as cooking, heating their homes or generating power.”
Freeport-McMoRan said such alternatives for the gas—such as using it to power fuel cells—could be more disruptive to the neighborhood because new infrastructure would have to be installed. The company also said that an environmental review is unnecessary because the equipment has “minimal impacts” and is being installed to continue existing activities.
Neighborhood residents have said that Freeport-McMoRan has provided a string of different explanations about the proposed burner, leaving them skeptical that the new equipment is merely a backup (for existing microturbines) that may lead to future oil exploration in the densely populated community.
