Defend Ballona Wetlands: environmentalists banding together to stop senseless habitat destruction.

Egrets enjoying life at Ballona Wetlands, unaware there is a plan to destroy their home.

This is what residents discovered, work that alarmed them, as it is near habitats where endangered birds have been documented.

What's going on here? Concerned citizens are demanding answers. Why didn't the public know?

FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY’S ALREADY DIGGING & DRILLING, EVEN AS COMMUNITY LEADERS SEEK TO STOP THE DESTRUCTIVE BULLDOZING PLAN, WHILE PUBLIC IS FOCUSED ON COVID

PLAYA DEL REY, CALIFORNIA, USA, October 5, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- NEW CRISIS AT LA’S BALLONA WETLANDS!

NEWS CONFERENCE
MONDAY, OCTOBER 5TH
TIME: 10am pacific
ZOOM LINK TO JOIN: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/439247599
ALSO WATCH AT: facebook.com/JaneVelezMitchell
LISTEN LIVE: https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/2754/janeunchained
CALL IN: 866 472-5795
WHO: PLAINTIFFS IN ONGOING LAWSUIT AGAINST BULLDOZING PLAN, Marcia Hanscom, Molly Basler, Roy van de Hoek, Lisa Karlan

CAUGHT IN THE ACT
In a shocking development, and while people are focused on the COVID-19 crisis, the gas industry has been caught doing an end-run around the will of the public, which is rising up against the horrific plan to bulldoze the Ballona Wetlands, LA’s last coastal wetlands in Playa del Rey whose 640 acres is teeming with 1,700 species of animals and plants, some endangered.

THE PUBLIC SAYS: DON'T BULLDOZE BALLONA WETLANDS
During public meetings community leaders have denounced the plan to bulldoze the wetlands, which is being pushed by allies of the fossil fuel industry. A lawsuit has also been filed to stop this destructive project. The agenda of this phony “restoration” plan is to allow the industry to excavate the wetlands, refurbish crumbling gas infrastructure which lies underneath and throughout this ecological reserve, and extend the life of this facility which contributes to climate change impacts. The unpopular bulldozing project’s environmental impact report confirms the controversial plan would involve moving wells to allow new fossil fuel infrastructure to be installed.

FOSSIL FUEL ACTIVITY NEAR ENDANGERED BIRD HABITAT
Recently, local residents noticed workers digging and drilling inside the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve, just feet away from where endangered birds have been documented.

UNDER THE RADAR
Ballona advocates have now learned that California Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration has quietly approved nine permits through an agency that oversees oil & gas operations in the state. In essence, these permits – in a covert and piecemeal way - start the destruction that dozens of environmental, Democratic and community organizations are working to stop.

SO MANY QUESTIONS SPARKING ALARM
The environmentalists and community leaders trying to stop the massive bulldozing project have posed numerous questions about this newly discovered work: has the industry gone through proper procedures to do this work in the California coastal zone? Why has the Coastal Commission not overseen permit restrictions normally required (including public hearings) for significant activity in a state ecological reserve? What is the role of CA Dept of Fish & Wildlife to protect wildlife at the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve?

TIME TO PHASE OUT FOSSIL FUELS
Several LA politicians have called for the gas storage facility in the Ballona Wetlands to be decommissioned. We are approaching the 5-year anniversary of the infamous Aliso Canyon gas blowout, considered one of the worst environmental catastrophe’s in California’s history. Aliso Canyon is the site of a fossil fuel facility similar to the one at the Ballona Wetlands.

TRYING TO PREVENT A DECADE LONG TRAFFIC NIGHTMARE ON LA'S WESTSIDE
The controversial bulldozing project would create a decade-long traffic nightmare on LA’s gridlocked westside, crippling traffic around LAX, Playa del Rey, Westchester, Marina del Rey, Culver City, Venice and beyond.

THE PUBLIC WOULD BE BLOCKED FROM THIS IDYLLIC SPOT FOR A DECADE
The public access that bulldozing proponents promote could be achieved today. There are trails and bike paths currently in use. One main trail is kept from the public by a huge locked gate. Who holds the key? The gas company. Public access is being held hostage in order to claim they need to destroy nature to provide public access. Orwellian. This 270-million dollar boondoggle must not stand.

For more information: defendballonawetlands.org

Contacts: Marcia Hanscom (310) 877-2634 wetlandact@earthlink.net
Molly Basler (310) 497-5980‬ mollybasler@greendreamcampaign.com

Marcia Hanscom
Defend Ballona Wetlands
+1 310-877-2634
email us here