E&B Natural Resources announced today that it will not submit its application to drill for oil until next month.
“The EBNR-Hermosa project description and application is close to completion and will be submitted to the city in early November,” said E&B Spokesperson Tiffany Rau in a statement. “In addition to finalizing the robust project description and technical reports, E&B is working on a user-friendly electronic document to be available for public download on the city’s website.”
Rau said the application, which was originally expected to be filed in October, involves more than a thousand pages and more than ten technical reports.
“E&B wants to ensure that its application meets the standards that Hermosa residents expect and that the document is easily accessible,” Rau said.
After receiving the application, the city will review it to make sure it is complete, said City Manager Tom Bakaly. But before that happens, the city will post the application on its website within a couple days of recieving it, Bakaly said.
“We want to get it up on the city website in a way that people can actually access it and read it,” said Bakaly, adding that the city is committed to a transparent process.
“That’s why we made the decision to put the application on our website and make it public before we can determine, as the regulatory authority, that it’s even complete,” Bakaly said. “We want the public to have access to the application and draw their own conclusions.”
City officials were concerned that downloading thousands of pages from the entire application at the city’s website would take too long for most people using standard Internet connections. So instead, the city plans to make all the sections available individually, allowing someone to download a section at a time.
After reviewing the application, the city will also initiate the Requests For Proposals process for the Environmental Impact Consultant. A consultant is expected to be hired within about three months after receiving the application, and the EIR process, expected to take another nine months, will include opportunities for public input on the project.
Hermosa Beach voters will decide the fate of the proposed oil drilling project at the polls sometime in 2014. E&B will pay the cost of the EIR process and election.
E&B in the Spring helped broker a settlement between the city and Macpherson Oil, which was suing the city for breach of contract after the city pulled the plug on Macpherson’s bid to drill for oil at the city maintenance yard in 1990s.
For more on the proposed oil project and the process ahead, visit the city’s website.
