The Carson City Council this week announced the withdrawal by California Resources Corporation, formerly Occidental Petroleum, of its proposal to drill 200 new oil wells in the city.
Led by councilmembers Lula Davis-Holmes and Albert Robles, the announcement came after residents had organized widespread opposition to the oil drilling project which, reportedly, could have employed well-stimulation techniques such as fracking.
The Carson Coalition had begun the process of working with the city council to update the old “oil and gas code” to prohibit fracking and similar oil drilling techniques. The city of Carson is still battling Shell Oil Co. over contamination of its Carousel housing tract which in the 1960s was built over an abandoned oil farm owned by the petroleum giant.
The battle over the project lasted years and attracted wide interest and concerns from residents about the impacts of related pollution on their health and homes. Last year, the city council passed a 45-day moratorium on all oil and gas drilling to delay a decision on the project and to ensure that it was adequately studied. The moratorium ended reportedly after intensive pressure to drill came from Gov. Jerry Brown and from California Resources Corporation.
