Environmentalists are calling for stricter enforcement of oil producers and a doubled pace to plug the thousands of uncapped and idle wells that once produced oil or gas and now continue to leak pollutants and carcinogens into neighborhoods.
In a study released Wednesday, researchers with the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute found nearly 3,800 schools, hospitals, playgrounds and parks throughout California remain within a kilometer of abandoned, uncapped wells.
Across Long Beach and Signal Hill, there are more than 750 active wells, as well as 378 idle wells. More than 2,900 wells citywide have been plugged, according to CALGEM data…