Dolphins near Fossil Fuel Operation - Photo courtesy of Peter Bennett

Great Egrets at LA's Ballona Wetlands -photo by Jonathan Coffin

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Ballona Burrowing Owl - Photo by Jonathan Coffin

Los Angeles Environmentalists Urge California Governor Newsom: Shut Gas Storage Facility under LA's Ballona Wetlands and Decommission Oil Platforms Off Coast.

MARINA DEL REY, CA, UNITED STATES, October 8, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- OCTOBER 8, 2021, Los Angeles, CA

As a tragic oil release in Orange County has devastated shorelines, beaches, wetlands and near-shore ecosystems, Los Angeles wildlife advocates & climate activists are calling on California Governor Gavin Newsom to close down fossil fuel operations threatening wildlife and abandon phony “restorations” that help the oil and gas industry.

“It’s clear from the public outcry over this disaster involving an aging oil pipeline that Californians cherish wetlands and shorelines, and have renounced ‘business as usual.’ Bold action is needed by Governor Newsom - the kind he promised when he first campaigned for Governor several years ago,” stated Marcia Hanscom, who chairs Sierra Club’s Ballona Wetlands Restoration Committee.

Cries for help from these imperiled wetlands coincide with the release of a short documentary produced by award-winning journalist Jane Velez-Mitchell. In the documentary, activist Molly Basler, a Climate Reality Leader trained by Al Gore, speaks at a protest at the Ballona Wetlands state Ecological Reserve, where gas and oil pipelines, wells and drilling equipment are spread throughout the sensitive habitat area.

“We beg Governor Newsom to heed this wake-up call and to immediately take action to close the aging Playa del Rey methane gas facility, and to withdraw the phony ‘restoration’ plan that would enable new fossil fuel infrastructure to be installed,” explained Basler.

Numerous organizations, including In Defense of Animals, Youth Climate Save, and Food & Water Watch are expressing renewed concerns over state plans to bulldoze the Ballona Wetlands in a manner that would obliterate wildlife.

“I was in tears for the first 48 hours after hearing about the ecological disaster on our coast. We must stop allowing fossil fuel operations where sensitive wildlife reside. Governor Newsom’s strong words about the disaster are a good start; now we call on him to stop his own agencies from doing further damage at the Ballona Wetlands and to decommission the oil platforms off our coast,” stated Judie Mancuso, Founder of Social Compassion in Legislation.

Environmental Scientist Robert van de Hoek who has been documenting sensitive wildlife the State is charged with protecting, explained why people are so upset: “The California Department of Fish & Wildlife is in the ocean cleaning up a tragic oil disaster, while this very same agency is cooperating with the fossil fuel industry by approving bulldozing projects at Los Cerritos Wetlands and Ballona Wetlands.”

LINK to FACEBOOK SHORT DOCUMENTARY:
https://fb.watch/8vJlgfKW_k/

Several city and county governments have called for the gas storage facility in the Ballona Wetlands to be decommissioned.

For more information: defendballonawetlands.org

Contacts: Marcia Hanscom, Sierra Club (310) 877-2634 wetlandact@earthlink.net

Marcia Hanscom
Defend Ballona Wetlands
+1 310-210-6696
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