Photos: Activists Protest At Ballona Wetlands, Demand Entry
PLAYA DEL REY, CA — The battle to protect Ballona Wetlands heated up Thursday in a standoff between activists, SoCalGas and California Fish & Wildlife employees all meeting at a construction site at the corner of Culver and Jefferson boulevards.
Activists have questions about what's next for the wetlands and are waiting on decision from the state's Department of Fish & Wildlife to determine if the protected area will move into a proposed restoration process, which includes several options that some oppose and plan to fight. Several locals showed up ready to sing "This Land Is Your Land" and protest outside a site where the gas company is replacing an old well that was installed illegally and must be removed.
A SoCalGas security guard threatened activist and LA City Council candidate Molly Basler earlier this month, calling Los Angeles police and threatening to arrest her for appearing at the Ballona Wetlands. Basler was on a Facebook Live video hosted by Jane Unchained News—hosted by Jane Velez-Mitchell—with local activists and environmentalists, documenting crews working in the oil fields and standing along the road when a security guard at the oil field site approached her.
She returned Thursday with fellow animal activists, environmentalists—even a local bird watcher—and plans to keep coming back, she told Patch.
"We are in a climate emergency," Basler told Patch. "I feel so let down by our political leaders who don't have the courage to make change."
"I just think it's important we continue to do this," Basler said.
To Basler and the group fighting the proposed restoration project, this is a local issue that reflects a global problem.
"This is just a representation of a million things going on on our planet," Basler told Patch.
Activists accuse the company of pursuing the project while the public is focused on the coronavirus pandemic, a tense 2020 election and economic crisis. Locals believe there is increased activity at the ecological reserve, alleging the gas company is pushing ahead on a project that hasn't been approved yet by California Coastal Commission officials.
The wetlands are considered state property. Residents have noticed workers digging and drilling inside the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve in recent weeks, just feet away from where endangered birds have been documented, activists from Defend the Ballona Wetlands told Patch.
Activists argue that a proposed project to restore the site is not a real restoration. It's backed by Heal the Bay, SoCalGas Company and Friends of the Ballona Wetlands, but locals are questioning the project and who profits.
According to public records, in 2019, Friends of the Ballona Wetlands received $30,000 from SoCalGas Company. Heal the Bay received $8,000 from the company in 2019.
Defend Ballona Wetlands and the Sierra Club are voicing concerns over the project and sharing their positions. Several people have filed a lawsuit to stop the project and protect the area, a habitat that remains home to hundreds of species of wildlife.
The site of the protest Thursday is where SoCalGas Company has an ongoing project to remove old infrastructure and replace it with new wells.
SoCalGas workers at the location declined to talk with Patch.
Several members of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife were at the site behind a locked gate during the protest. One employee told Patch they were there to restore the wetlands, and help bring back the pickle weed, along with other species.
The agency has declined public access, confirming with the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission this month that the area is not permitted to the public.
Annie Abram is an LA resident who wants to access the wetlands and for the space to be left alone.
"The only little, tiny, sliver of land left alone they want to take that away," Abram told Patch. "The wetlands are a treasure. We need this for health, for oxygen, for nature and for kids to learn about mother nature, for all of us to enjoy. Most importantly, lives are at risk here."
"When we destroy the animals and mother nature we're always destroying ourselves. It catches up with us sooner or later and there's no more time for us to do that. we cannot be drilling and acting like there is no consequence. And we need the fossil fuel companies to stop drilling and move their way out."
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story said the final decision on restoration would be made by the Coastal Commission. That is incorrect and it is the California Department of Fish & Wildlife.
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This article originally appeared on the Marina Del Rey Patch
