Culver City Observer -

After receiving numerous requests from residents the Culver City City Council granted a 120-day extension of the public review period for the submission of written comments on the Inglewood Oil Field (IOF) Specific Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) at Monday night's meeting.

The new plan would allow 30 additional wells in the field and fracking underneath Culver City.

Additional time was granted after council members heard from the public. Comments may be submitted until March 14, 2018.

With city elections in April of next year Mayor Jeff Cooper and Councilmember Jim Clarke term out and will not be on the new council when it votes on this issues.

According to investopedia.com "Fracking is a slang term for hydraulic fracturing, which is the process of creating fractures in rocks and rock formations by injecting specialized fluid into cracks to force them to open further. The larger fissures allow more oil and gas to flow out of the formations and into the wellbore, from where they can be easily extracted.

Fracking has resulted in many oil and gas wells attaining a state of economic viability due to the level of extraction that can be reached, and has allowed drilling firms access to previously difficult-to-reach sources of oil and gas.

The consequences of fracking are still unclear. According to reports the state of Oklahoma has an increase in earthquakes since fracking began. Oklahoma is not known to have earthquakes where Southern California sits on top of many earthquake faults.

The Draft EIR for the IOF Specific Plan Project (including the Draft Specific Plan and Drilling Regulations) were released for public review and comment on September 15, 2017, for a 60-day review period ending Tuesday, November 14, 2017. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines require that an EIR be available for a 45-day public review period; however, the City initially extended the Project's Public Review Period to 60 days.

Written comments should be received by the City on or before March 14, 2018 at 5:30 pm. The city is requesting written comments labeled with "Subject: Inglewood Oil Field Specific Plan Project" and be directed as follows:

• By email: IOFSpecificPlanProject@culvercity.org;

• By fax: (310) 253-5664; or

• By mail: City of Culver City (address below)

City Attorney's Office

Attention: Heather Baker, Assistant City Attorney

Subject: Inglewood Oil Field Specific Plan Project.

9770 Culver Boulevard

Culver City, CA 90232

The PowerPoint presentation from the first of the City's two informational meetings regarding the CEQA process, the overall findings of the Draft EIR, and the Specific Plan is now available at http://www.culvercity.org/home/showdocument?id=10947.

The city has requested that any questions regarding the Inglewood Oil Field EIR be directed to Heather Baker, Assistant City Attorney, at heather.baker@culvercity.org or (310) 253-5660. Additional contacts on the subject are the City's Inglewood Oil Field Specific Plan Project Manager, Melanie Doran Traxler, at IOFSpecificPlanProject@culvercity.org or (818) 248-7158.

For more information on the draft EIR visit the city's webpage at http://www.culvercity.org/inglewoodoilfield.

Editors note: portions of this story are from press information from the city of Culver City.