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An idle AllenCo Energy drill site near USC was “deserted” by the company, state regulators said three years ago, ordering AllenCo to plug the site’s 21 wells. California state regulators announced Tuesday their plans to cap orphaned oil wells across the state, including wells in a South Central Los Angeles residential neighborhood near USC that caused health complaints from residents …

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Los Angeles weighs phasing out oil and gas drilling

The University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles has a lot in common with urban areas across the U.S.: A dense population with lots of businesses and housing. After a decade of complaints from residents like Diaz, the Los Angeles City Council is expected to vote as soon as next week on a measure that would ban new oil and gas …

Allenco Energy, which has operated a South Los Angeles drill site that spurred an outcry over nosebleeds and headaches suffered by neighbors, is facing criminal charges for allegedly flouting a state order and failing to properly abandon wells. “This is a matter of environmental justice.” The misdemeanor charges filed this week also target Allenco Chief Executive Clifford E. Peter Allen …

Deserted oil wells haunt Los Angeles with toxic fumes and enormous cleanup costs

Near downtown Los Angeles, a developer is building dozens of apartments in Echo Park on property that contains deserted oil wells, some of them uncapped. Battalion Chief James Hayden, whose responsibilities include the Los Angeles Fire Department’s oil and gas program, acknowledged that the city hadn’t provided adequate oversight of the industry. “It’s about shortsightedness.” The AllenCo Energy Inc. drill …

Joaquin Phoenix introduces Nalleli Cobo during a protest at Los Angeles City Hall on Friday. Nancy Halpern Ibrahim, executive director of Esperanza Community Housing, remembers seeing her speak up at a news conference in the neighborhood and being struck by this “driven voice from the podium that didn’t falter in any way.” “She found her voice,” said Ibrahim, whose nonprofit …