Book: Palisades Oil: How a Community Fought and Defeated OXY’s 22-Year Drilling Plan by Malcolm J. Abzug
This gripping explainer video documents the twenty-two year struggle (1966–1988/1991) over oil drilling in the choice residential area of Pacific Palisades on the Southern California coast. Drawing on the meticulous account by active participant and retired aeronautical engineer MALCOLM J. ABZUG, the video details the epic conflict between giant oil companies, specifically Occidental Petroleum (OXY) and Chevron, and local activists organized under the banner of No Oil, Inc. (NOI).
Learn about the extensive political and legal maneuvers employed by OXY, led for years by its formidable chairman, Armand Hammer, and represented by powerful attorneys and lobbyists, including Michael Kantor of the Manatt, Phelps law firm. This struggle involved complex issues, starting with the controversial 1964–1969 land swap that secured OXY’s two-acre highway drill site near Pacific Coast Highway (PCH).
The community opposition, bolstered by leaders such as NOI founder Deborah Parducci and tireless public relations director Shirley Solomon, gained crucial political support from Councilmen Marvin Braude and Zev Yaroslavsky. The opposition successfully challenged OXY’s attempts at approval before the Los Angeles City Council (LACC) and the California Coastal Commission (CCC). Critical environmental concerns included the potential instability of the Via de las Olas landslide area, the fear of high-pressure pipelines running near Paul Revere Junior High School, and risks highlighted by the catastrophic Piper Alpha disaster.
Witness the pivotal court victories secured by NOI attorney Roger Diamond and the final showdown in the Battle of the Propositions (1988), where the drilling ban initiative, Proposition O, triumphed, leading OXY Chairman Ray R. Irani to announce in May 1991 that the corporation would abandon the Pacific Palisades project. This video serves as a powerful primer on community activism and successful environmental defense.
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