The Los Cerritos Wetlands at Steam Shovel Slough, in the Los Angeles region. (Credit: Cec4711 via Wikipedia)
LOS ANGELES (CN) For years, the Los Cerritos Wetlands have weathered poor environmental management and oil drilling projects. A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge on Thursday denied a challenge to an oil construction development in the city of Long Beach that is expected to coincide with a 150-acre wetlands restoration project that was approved by the California Coastal Commission.
An environmental nonprofit group sued the commission, arguing they abused their power when they approved the project, which involves a land swap between the oil operators and property owners.
A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge ruled that the California Coastal Commission did not abuse its power when it approved a land-swap deal in 2018 that will allow for the rehabilitation of 150 acres of wetlands, but also the development of up to 120 new oil wells.
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In a 22-page tentative ruling, Judge Mary Strobel denied a request to stop the project in the Los Cerritos wetlands in the southeastern part of the city. Strobel’s ruling said that the commission did not misinterpret the Coastal Act in approving the deal, and the public benefits of the project were correctly weighed before voting to approve the deal.