The Los Angeles City Council voted 13-0 Wednesday to ban new oil wells and phase out all existing ones within 20 years, the final vote needed to pass the citywide ban. The ordinance caps a campaign by residents and environmental advocates that began more than a decade ago.
Speaking at a rally before the vote, councilmembers Katy Yaroslavsky, Heather Hutt and Adrin Nazarian spoke in favor of the ban. Nazarian said 759 active wells sit near homes, churches, parks, hospitals and other places residents visit daily. After the vote, Yaroslavsky said the wells need to be properly plugged and the sites cleaned up, and that the companies responsible for the pollution should be held accountable.
Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside City Hall before the vote, holding signs including "Clean air & health over big oil wealth" and "Together we can stop the climate emergency." Ashley Hernandez, a community organizer and Wilmington resident, said the ban means inheriting a safer Los Angeles and a healthier city for generations to come. Richard Parks, president of Redeemer Community Partnership in South Los Angeles, said his family and neighbors near oil drilling sites have faced health consequences, including miscarriages, and said they wondered whether children were lost because of how oil companies operated in the community. Isabella Galbraith, a South L.A. high school senior, said she attended her first protest over the Jefferson drill site at age 5; that site has been closed and is now being developed into a park. She said it is not normal to struggle to breathe or for family members to have asthma and cancer.
The city first moved to phase out oil drilling in 2022, but that motion was overturned after Warren Resources, an oil company, sued, arguing that only the state could enact such a policy. A state law passed last year explicitly granted cities the right to ban oil drilling, and the council again took up the cause. L.A. County is planning a similar ban.
Oil companies have said they plan to fight the ban, arguing that the ordinance constitutes a taking of private property without compensation and a violation of their rights.
Residents are already looking ahead to the future of the sites. Wendy Miranda, a Wilmington resident and rally organizer, said the sites could become parks that communities desperately need, and expressed excitement that oil drilling will no longer be in their neighborhoods.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The ban affects residents living near active wells, where the council heard testimony of health problems including miscarriages, asthma and cancer.
- It settles, for the city, a years-long legal question over whether municipalities can ban oil drilling after a state law explicitly granted that power.
- Attention now shifts to cleanup and reuse of drill sites, with residents proposing parks and other community uses.
Background
The push to ban oil drilling in Los Angeles began more than a decade ago. In 2022 the city moved to phase out drilling, but Warren Resources, an oil company, sued, arguing that only the state could enact such a policy. That motion was overturned. A state law passed last year explicitly granted cities the right to ban oil drilling, allowing the council to take up the ordinance again. L.A. County is planning a similar ban.
Key Perspectives
Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky: said wells must be properly plugged and sites cleaned up, and the companies responsible for the pollution held accountable.
Councilmember Adrin Nazarian: said 759 active wells sit just steps from homes, churches, parks, hospitals and other places residents visit daily.
Residents and advocates, including Ashley Hernandez, Richard Parks, Isabella Galbraith and Wendy Miranda: said the ban means a safer, healthier city, described health consequences they link to nearby drilling, and look forward to sites becoming parks.
Oil companies: have said they plan to fight the ban, arguing it constitutes a taking of private property without compensation and a violation of their rights.
What to Watch
- Legal challenges from oil companies over the ordinance.
- L.A. County's similar ban effort and whether it clears the same hurdles.
- City follow-through on plugging and cleaning wells, including revoking conditional use permits and using the Fire Department to plug idle wells.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 11 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedThe Los Angeles City Council voted 13-0 on Wednesday.LAist: “The Los Angeles City Council voted 13-0 Wednesday to ban new oil wells and phase out all existing ones within 20 years”
- SupportedThe vote bans new oil wells and phases out all existing wells within 20 years.LAist: “The Los Angeles City Council voted 13-0 Wednesday to ban new oil wells and phase out all existing ones within 20 years”
- SupportedThis was the final vote needed to pass the citywide ban.LAist: “the final vote needed to pass the citywide ban.”
- SupportedThe ordinance campaign began more than a decade ago.LAist: “For community residents and environmental advocates, this has been a long time coming — the push to enact this ordinance began over a decade ago.”
- Partly supportedAfter the vote, Yaroslavsky said the wells should be plugged, sites cleaned up and responsible companies held accountable.LAist: “Speaking before the City Council vote on Wednesday, Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky said, "We need to make sure the companies responsible for this pollution are held accountable."”
- SupportedNazarian said 759 active wells sit near homes, churches, parks, hospitals and other places residents visit daily.LAist: ““Seven hundred fifty-nine of these active wells sit just steps from homes, churches, parks, hospitals and other places that our residents visit and congregate on a daily basis,” Nazarian said.”
- SupportedDemonstrators held signs reading “Clean air & health over big oil wealth”.LAist: “holding signs with slogans like “Clean air & health over big oil wealth””
- SupportedDemonstrators held signs reading “Together we can stop the climate emergency.”LAist: “holding signs with slogans like “Clean air & health over big oil wealth” and “Together we can stop the climate emergency.””
- SupportedParks said his family and neighbors near oil drilling sites faced health consequences, including miscarriages, and wondered whether children were lost because of oil companies’ operations in the community.LAist: “Richard Parks, president of Redeemer Community Partnership in South Los Angeles, said his family and several of his neighbors who live near oil drilling sites where odor-neutralizing chemicals are sprayed into the air have faced health consequences, including miscarriages. “We were left to wonder, did we lose these children because of the way these oil companies were operating in our community?” Parks said.”
- SupportedThe city first moved to phase out oil drilling in 2022, but that motion was overturned after Warren Resources sued, arguing that only the state could enact such a policy.LAist: “The city of L.A. first moved to phase out oil drilling in 2022. That motion was later overturned after Warren Resources, an oil company, sued the city, arguing that only the state could enact such a policy.”
- SupportedA state law passed last year explicitly granted cities the right to ban oil drilling.LAist: “A state law passed last year explicitly granted cities the right to ban oil drilling”
- SupportedOil companies said they planned to fight the ban, arguing it amounted to an uncompensated taking of private property and violated their rights.LAist: “Oil companies have already said they plan to fight the ban, arguing that the ordinance constitutes a taking of private property without compensation and a violation of their rights.”