(LOS ANGELES, CA) – On Wednesday, July 31, Allenco Energy Company agreed to pay a $99,000 penalty to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for violating federal environmental laws at an oil field near USC. The oil field is located in South Los Angeles, which is in the 59th Assembly District.
For some time, residents near the oil field complained of nose bleeds in children, asthma attacks, nausea, foul odors and several other respiratory illnesses. The surrounding residents include residential housing, day-care centers and schools.
The penalty is in conjunction with an additional $700,000 the company agreed to use for improvements in the oil field after Senator Barbara Boxer asked them to stop operations until progress was made last year.
"I applaud the leadership of Senator Boxer on this issue. I am disappointed in the lack of concern Allenco had for the residents of South LA. The residents of this great community deserve to live in healthy and safe neighborhoods, and willfully overlooking violations is unacceptable," said Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer.
In addition to the fine issued by the EPA, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, filed a complaint in Los Angeles Superior court in which they cite lax practices for "adverse health effects on community members in the form of severe headaches, nausea, nosebleeds, chronic fatigue and respiratory ailments, including, but not limited to asthma."
As of today, the oil filed is shut down until improvements are made.
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Assemblyman Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr. represents the 59th Assembly district, which covers areas of Los Angeles and the communities of Huntington Park, Walnut Park and Florence-Firestone.