Federal environmental
officers were sickened by toxic vapors as they toured a south Los
Angeles urban oil field whose emissions are blamed by neighbors for a
variety of ailments, an
Jared Blumenfeld, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator for the Pacific
Southwest, was among those stricken by the fumes during the recent tour
of the Allenco Energy Co. site in University Park, about a half-mile
north of USC.
"I've been to oil and gas production facilities throughout the
region, but I've never had an experience like that before," Bumenfeld
said. "We suffered sore throats, coughing and severe headaches that
lingered for hours."
U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer
(D-Calif.) on Friday urged Allenco to suspend operations immediately
pending completion of an EPA investigation, which was prompted by
hundreds of complaints from neighbors who blame the noxious odors for
persistent respiratory ailments, headaches, nausea and nosebleeds.
Boxer said EPA investigators who toured the site Oct. 24 "told me
that they saw a shoddy operation. They saw oil on the ground. They saw
pipes held up by 2-by-4s. This cannot go on."
The EPA is investigating whether the Allenco operation is in
compliance with federal clean air and water laws. The site, owned by the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and leased to Allenco, is
surrounded by low-income housing and schools, including the Doheny
Campus of Mount St. Mary's College.
Tensions have been on the rise in the community since 2010, when
Allenco boosted production at its wells by more than 400%. Neighbors
complained to the South Coast Air Quality Management District 251 times
over the next three years. The agency responded by issuing 15 citations
against Allenco for foul odors and equipment problems.
However, frustrations over the air district's inability to say
whether fumes from the oil field are hazardous has triggered the EPA
investigation and others by the Los Angeles County Department of Health,
the Los Angeles city attorney's office and the archdiocese.
Investigators hope to determine the cause of the ailments and
scrutinize the validity of Allenco's operating permits, as well as the
archdiocese's lease agreements with the company.
"This is an exceptionally important moment for this community," said
Nancy H. Ibrahim, executive director at Esperanza Community Housing
Corp., a nonprofit affordable housing developer in the area. "The AQMD
has been complicit in what has become a community health emergency by
apparently requiring a mass body count before we get their full
attention — and an appropriate response."
Boxer, who said she learned of the
University Park illnesses from the Los Angeles Times, said she called upon the archdiocese to act.
"The Catholic Church is a strong advocate for children," Boxer said.
"Well, if you love children, you don't expose children to dangerous
things."
Allenco was unavailable for comment. Monica Valencia, an archdiocese
spokeswoman, said, "We take the residents' concerns seriously. We are
examining our lease with Allenco to ensure their operations are in
compliance with our agreement. We continue to work with all involved
parties to see that health standards are being met at the site."
After analyzing three air samples collected in 2011, the district
concluded that the odors posed no health risks. Two weeks ago, Barry
Wallerstein, the agency's executive director, tried to assure a crowd at
a town hall meeting that recent air samples taken at Allenco also
showed that the air was safe to breathe.
A new round of air samples, however, has detected "brief episodes of
elevated hydrocarbon levels around the facility," air district spokesman
Sam Atwood said. "We will continue to conduct air monitoring until we
can figure out what's causing them."
The facility has a history of violations. For example, an air sample
taken from a wastewater tank discharge line Aug. 29, 2011, detected
levels of hydrocarbons from volatile petroleum products that were 10,000
times higher than ambient levels, air quality district lab reports
show. Although some hydrocarbons are toxic, the analyses did not
identify the hydrocarbons in the samples or determine how long they had
been leaking.
EPA and county health investigators suspect that constant exposure to
extremely low levels of pollutants, including hydrogen sulfide, a
colorless flammable gas that occurs naturally in petroleum and natural
gas, is contributing to the illnesses reported by neighbors.
Angelo Bellomo, director of environmental health for the county
health department, said the symptoms described by neighbors "are not
inconsistent with what we would expect to see after exposure to low
levels of hydrocarbons. So, while the detectable concentrations of
hazardous pollution may be below regulatory standards, they are
nonetheless making people sick."
He said his agency will work to develop an alternative set of standards to cover conditions like those in University Park.
louis.sahagun@latimes.com
