In Los Angeles County, the owner of an oil field is taking legal action against California due to a new law mandating the cessation of production and the plugging of wells, or else facing hefty penalties. This week, Sentinel Peak, the company owning the Inglewood Oil Field, filed a lawsuit claiming that this legislation, signed in September by Governor Gavin Newsom, breaches the constitution, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times.
This law is part of a broader initiative aimed at combating pollution by empowering local authorities to impose stricter controls over oil and gas operations. It targets the decommissioning of idle wells—which are unused but haven’t been properly sealed—and imposes penalties on companies managing low-production oil wells in the Inglewood area.
Covering a 1,000-acre region to the southwest of downtown Los Angeles, the site hosts around 820 unplugged wells, with 420 still active. The newspaper highlighted that about 80% of these operational wells are deemed low-producing, delivering fewer than 15 barrels of oil or 60,000 cubic feet of gas daily.
In court documents, Sentinel Peak’s legal team contends that the legislation constitutes an unlawful effort to force a legal business to halt its operations. They argue that the imposed fines are particularly objectionable, claiming these measures violate federal and state prohibitions against excessive fines.
The lawsuit describes these financial penalties as wildly disproportionate, noting the absence of a clear upper limit or a direct connection to any tangible harm caused.
Meanwhile, the state oil and gas regulator, the California Department of Conservation’s Geological Energy Management Division, opted not to comment on the pending litigation. However, Isaac Bryan, the Democratic Assemblyman who authored the legislation and represents the area, has expressed a firm commitment to defending the law.
“Our community has fought tirelessly for years to shut down this hazardous, low-yield oil field, and we will fight with equal determination in court to safeguard the communities at the forefront who have long earned the right to live healthy lives,” Bryan stated to the Times. “Californians, through their legislature, have clearly voiced that perilous oil wells should not coexist with residential areas.”
