By a 4-1 vote, the La Habra Heights City Council has voted to soften the ballot language of an anti-oil measure on the upcoming city ballot in hopes of settling a lawsuit from oil companies.
The new language says the ballot measure would “prohibit land use for any treatment of oil or gas wells that is designed to enhance production or recovery, any new oil and gas wells and reactivation of idle wells.”
The words, “high-intensity petroleum operations,” were eliminated from language originally approved by the city.
But the original backers of the measure are not pleased with the change, and are threatening that they now may file suit in court to have the language changed back.
“It makes it appear the initiative wants to ban existing oil operations when it clearly does not,” said Mike Hughes, the group’s president, told the Whittier Daily News.
A coalition of oil companies had pushed for the change, calling the high-intensity language “inflammatory.”This new language will settle the lawsuit.
Council members said they voted for the new language to avoid spending $50,000 to fight the lawsuit.