Announcement of Public Scoping Meeting for the Proposed Hermosa Beach Oil Recovery Project

    HERMOSA BEACH, CA, July 23, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The City of Hermosa Beach has provided notice that it will be the Lead Agency and will prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the proposed Hermosa Beach Oil Project. On the heels of the announcement of the 30-day "Scoping Period" for the EIR, the City will hold a Public Scoping Meeting to allow public input on the matter. The Notice of Preparation and the Public Meeting announcement can be found on the city's website and at http://ebnr-hermosa.com/materials/news.

The meeting, scheduled to take place on Wednesday, July 24, 2013 at the Hermosa Beach Community Theater, is intended to be a forum through which citizens may ask questions regarding the process of the environmental review. The City hopes that by actively including the public in the planning process, they will insure the upcoming report covers every environmental aspect of interest to residents. In its Notice of Preparation of the Draft Environmental Impact Report, the City urges residents to provide their views as to the scope and content of the environmental information to be prepared for the proposed project.

The project, spearheaded by E&B Natural Resources, looks to recover oil and gas reserves in the tidelands of Hermosa Beach from an on-shore location that currently houses the City's Maintenance Yard. E&B proposes to accomplish this by using environmentally-friendly directional oil drilling technology. Steve Layton, President of E&B Natural Resources, has communicated with many Hermosa Beach residents, stating "We look forward to participating in the EIR process and believe that not only is it necessary, as required by the California Environmental Quality Act, but it will also be very helpful to all those who participate."

Timing: According to the City, the EIR will take several months to prepare. Later this year, a Notice of Completion of the Draft EIR will be released to the public, providing a 60 day period for commenting on the Draft EIR and the City will also host one or more events to discuss the findings of the Draft EIR and receive public comment. The City will then respond to all comments on the Draft EIR in the "Final EIR."

The meeting will take place from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on July 24th. For those unable to attend, comments can be submitted beforehand for consideration. Comments may be dropped off or mailed to Ken Robertson, Director of Community Development Department, at 1315 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. Emails can be sent to [email protected].

E&B Natural Resources is a California based independent oil and gas company. Established in 1971, E&B started out focusing on production in and around the Bakersfield, Ca Area. Today, E&B has grown to expand drilling and production operations in five different states - California, Kansas, Louisiana, Wyoming, and Texas. For more information, visit http://ebnr-hermosa.com/

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