Grassroots Coalition (GC)
11934 W Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA Phone: 310-721-3512
President, Patricia McPherson Outreach, Jeanette Vosburg
GC believes in open government and full disclosure of health and safety issues especially those that affect residents around Southern California Gas Company (Sempra Energy) which stores 7 to 8 billion cubic feet of natural gas at pressures up to 230
0 pounds per inch under the Ballona Wetlands in Playa del Rey, California. Grassroots Coalition and many of its allies also invests time and dollars in preserving the Ballona Wetlands as open space for Plant and Wildlife, especially endangered species, that live there. Accomplishments
2007 Grassroots Coalition Victory against Sempra Energy (Southern California Gas Company) in Playa del Rey. After 7 years of litigation, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved a settlement agreement of complaint cases relating to the natural gas storage field owned and operated by Southern California Gas Company in the Playa del Rey area of the City of Los Angeles. To fully understand this Grassroots victory read the full: Sempra Energy "Important Information about Playa del Rey Natural Gas Storage Operations" on our website or read:http://www.saveballona.org/gasoilfields/Sempra.Energy.Playa.del.Rey.natural.gas.storage.operations.pdf
This case set precedent in the state of California for an oil/gas field operator – Sempra Energy (Southern California Gas Company) to notice the public and perform oil/gas field migration testing and monitoring, including subsidence and uplift monitoring – surpassing the requirements of the Division of Oil and Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR).
2005 Grassroots Coalition Court Victory against Playa Vista and LA City The California Appellate Court vacated the approval of the Playa Vista Phase I Methane Mitigation System and ordered the City to determine whether to perform a Supplemental or Subsequent Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) according to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Appellate Court agreed with Grassroots Coalition and its co-plaintiffs that the effects of dewatering (removal of water) as part of the methane mitigation measures and the methane mitigation systems ability to perform properly had not been studied. Issues to be studied include cumulative impacts of dewatering; cumulative subsidence and contamination spread, and performance of the 50' vent wells, dewatering as it affects the wetland habitat, recharge rate of the aquifer, salt water intrusion and waste water issues. GC has been instrumental in the creation and changes to the LA CITY METHANE CODE including the Playa Vista Methane Prevention Detection and Monitoring Program – Playa Vista Phase 1.
1997 Grassroots Coalition Belmont Learning Center Complex (BLC). (GC) was instrumental in procuring a Supplement Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) on the BLC proposed site. Working as consultant to Senator Tom Hayden and Assemblyman Wildman, GC provided review and assessment of internal documents alongside gas migration expert Bernard Endres PhD. GC provided data and information to the Air Quality Management District (AQMD) that led to further AQMD investigations of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) oil wells that gave rise to Notices of Violations and ultimately the abandonment of the old leaky LAUSD wells. Community support was garnered for this work by GC. President Patricia McPherson in 1993 Founded Grassroots Coalition (GR) and, in the role of president, leads the fight for full disclosure of health and safety issues related to oil field gases at Playa Vista and the surrounding areas. GR introduced Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) to oilfield gas migration issues in the Ballona Wetlands region. GR asked the City of Los Angeles (City) for an independent peer reviewer from outside California to study oilfield gas migration issues at Playa Vista and the surrounding areas. The City chose Exploration Technologies Inc. / Victor Jones of Texas (ETI). In an attempt to allow for development of the Playa Vista project – adjacent to the SoCalGas oil/gas storage facilities – new and experimental gas mitigation measures were utilized.
1990 Produced Wetlands '90, a 3 day, multi-interactional, educational event that drew over 10,000 people to the Ballona Wetlands.
1989 Started a Wetlands Committee for Sierra Club, Los Angeles Chapter that focused on acquisition and preservation of the Ballona Wetlands. In 2003-4 they were successfully purchased with public funding. CONTACT: Grassroots Coalition Patricia McPherson or Jeanette Vosburg, 310-721-3512
