Culver City Observer -

West Los Angeles College will host a seminar on hydraulic fracturing and the democratic process entitled “Fracking: The LA Story” Saturday, March 23, from 9:30 a.m. to

1 p.m. in the Fine Arts Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Registration will take place from 9:30 to 10 a.m. Coffee will be served.

Co-hosts of the event along with West Los Angeles College are Citizens Coalition for a Safe Community, Baldwin Hills Oil Watch, Make Culver City Safe, and Transition Culver City.

Hydraulic fracturing is the highly controversial practice commonly known as "fracking." This is a means of extracting hard-to-get oil using highly pressurized water, sand and chemicals. Critics are concerned about toxic air emissions, pollution of groundwater and earthquakes in a densely populated urban area. Local activists from Culver City and Los Angeles--including academics and physicians--have been advocating for a moratorium or ban on fracking, in particular because the oil company PXP has announced it will employ fracking in the Baldwin Hills Oil Field, located adjacent to West LA College in Culver City and Baldwin Hills.

The program will open with remarks by WLA College president, Abu-Ghazaleh , followed by introductory remarks by WLA College student and faculty representatives

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