An oil field owner is suing California over a law that would end its operations in the Los Angeles area

Los Angeles – The owner of an oil field in Los Angeles County is suing the state of California over a law that would require us to stop production and shut down its wells or face expensive fines.

The owner of the Inglewood Oil Field, Sentinel Peak, is arguing in a lawsuit, filed this week, that the law, signed in September by Gov. Gavin Newsom, unconstitutional, reported the Los Angeles Times on Thursday.

It was one of several laws aimed at reducing pollution by giving local governments more authority to limit oil and gas production by closing so-called idle wells, which are underutilized but not properly capped and shut down, and fining companies. the operation of low-yielding oil wells in the Inglewood field.

The 1,000-acre site southwest of downtown Los Angeles has approximately 820 unconnected wells, including 420 that are actively pumping. About 80% of active wells are considered low-yield, meaning they produce less than 15 barrels of oil or 60,000 cubic feet of gas per day, the newspaper reported.

Attorneys for Sentinel Peak argued that the law “represents an illegal attempt to force each company to cease operations of its legitimate business,” according to court documents. They allege that mandatory fines, in particular, violate state and federal laws that prohibit excessive fines.

The lawsuit calls the fines “gross” disproportionate, “no clear limitation” or “relation to any actual harm.”

The Geological Energy Management Division of the California Department of Environmental Conservation, the state's oil and gas regulator, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

But Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, a Democrat who represents the area where the oil field is located and who wrote the law, vowed to protect it.

“Our community has stood strong for decades to shut down this dangerous low-yielding oil industry, and we will stand strong in court to protect those precious communities who have long deserved the right to live full and healthy lives,” Bryan told the Times. “The people of California have spoken through their legislature that dangerous oil wells have no business being around the public.”