Assemblywoman Carrillo Joined Environmental Leaders to Call on Governor Newsom to sign AB 1167, the Orphan Well Prevention Act

The Orphan Well Prevention Act will require funding to cover the cost of sealing idle or marginally producing oil wells, protecting taxpayers if the well becomes “orphaned.”

LOS ANGELES, CA – Assemblywoman Carrillo joined Environment California, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and a broad coalition of environmental advocates to call on Governor Newsom to sign AB 1167, the Orphan Well Prevention Act, currently on his desk awaiting a decision. They also unveiled a new interactive map showing all the idle and orphan wells in the State, overlaid in waterways and groundwater to emphasize the risk they pose to California's water-- and the need to plug them. The press conference took place at Vista Hermosa Natural Park, which once housed an oilfield with dozens of derricks atop of its 10-acre landscape, and took place a day after a group of over 100 organizations sent a letter asking the Governor to sign the legislation.

“Calling on Governor Newsom to sign the Orphan Well Prevention Act in the face of heavy opposition from the oil and gas industry at Vista Hermosa Park is symbolic, because we stand in the middle of what was once the largest oil fields to become abandoned in an urban area. The Los Angeles City Oil Field, one of the first of its scale, left 1,250 wells that stretch from Elysian Park to Vermont,” said Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles). “While Vista Hermosa displays what is possible, AB 1167 recognizes there are many more orphan wells on the way as production continues its downward trend, and that we need to act now as a state to ensure that oil and gas operators will be the ones covering the cost of cleaning up their wells when production ends, not communities. In my district there are close to 200-orphaned oil wells that continue to harm the health, well-being and safety of residents. Governor Newsom has shown courage and resolve to stand up to polluters with the lawsuit he announced recently that would make them cover the cost of making communities whole. It is my hope that he has communities like this one in mind when he signs AB 1167.”

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Assemblywoman Carrillo was elected to serve in the State Assembly in December 2017. She represents the 52nd Assembly District, which includes East Los Angeles, the City of Los Angeles and South Glendale. She serves as the Chair of the Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration, in addition to the Assembly Committees on Appropriations, Health, Housing and Community Development, Utilities and Energy, Budget Subcommittee No. 6 on Budget Process, Oversight and Program Evaluation, and the Joint Committees on Legislative Budget, and Climate Change Policies. She also serves as the Chair of the Select Committee on Latina Inequities, Vice Chair of the Legislative Progressive Caucus, as a Commissioner for the California Film Commission and serves on the California Cultural and Historical Endowment Board.