Council Delays Decision About Construction of Exploratory Well : Inglewood: Opponents are fearful of accidents and impact on property values. Proponents say the cash-strapped city would get millions if oil is discovered.

Citing environmental concerns, the Inglewood City Council has delayed a vote on a proposed exploratory well in the Morningside Park area that could yield millions of dollars in oil royalties to the cash-starved city.

In spite of assurances from state and city experts that the project would pose little risk to the community, the council wanted more information about the project’s control measures before a drilling permit is allowed. The council did not set a specific date for its vote.

“I’m not interested in, and am unmotivated by profit. . . . The greater responsibility is to public safety,” said Councilman Daniel Tabor, whose city has a $6-million budget shortfall this year. “If the oil and gas are there, it won’t be going anywhere.”

The proposal, by Noble Oil Co. of California, to search for oil on a 1.1-acre site on the eastern edge of Inglewood Park Cemetery had generated controversy, pitting neighbor against neighbor in some cases.

A three-hour public hearing on the project had to be moved from the City Hall’s top-floor council chambers to a downstairs community room to accommodate the audience of 250.

In a short presentation, Noble Oil President Frank J. Noble, a geologist and a former Union Oil executive, told the council his research indicates there may be as much as 200 million barrels of oil underneath the site, at 7715 S. Victoria Ave. Noble Oil, which plans to lease the property from the cemetery, is offering the city 22 cents for every a barrel of oil taken there.

If oil is found, Noble estimated the city would receive from several hundred thousand to millions of dollars in revenues annually during 25 years of production. And for homeowners who sell mineral rights under their property, an oil discovery could bring them as much as $15,000 annually, he said.

“You have to take risks to advance,” said James Burke, an Inglewood resident. “We need the oil. We need the gas.”

Opponents of the project, however, asserted that any monetary benefits would be outweighed by noise, dust, truck traffic and possibly lower property values. Should oil production begin, a 130-foot-tall oil derrick will be installed, and it would operate 24 hours a day.

Many opponents of the project seemed particularly fearful of an explosion or a gas leak triggered by an earthquake or human error.

“This is not risk management, this is risk creation,” said Dan Mincher, whose property abuts the proposed drilling site.

But city fire officials said a neighborhood gas station, which typically stores three 10,000-gallon tanks underground, poses more danger than the drilling project. And state officials, though noting that the site is quarter of a mile from the active Newport-Inglewood fault line, said a quake had never threatened properties near an oil well.

In September, the city Planning Commission denied Noble Oil a drilling permit, pointing out the problems the project might cause. However, a subsequent city planning report argued that the project’s negative effects could be mitigated, eliminating the need for an environmental impact report, or EIR, which is usually required under state law.

But at Tuesday night’s hearing, many speakers and Councilman Garland Hardeman maintained that the scope of the drilling project still warranted an EIR.

Noble, who has personally lobbied area homeowners, said he understands residents’ concerns about safety. But he warned that if the council demands an EIR, which would conservatively take months to complete, he will withdraw his proposal and seek another drill site.