From the Los Angeles Times
A small city that used Los Angeles County tax dollars to buy a verdant stretch of the Whittier Hills to keep it out of the hands of oil companies now wants to profit from a plan to pump at least 1,000 barrels of crude a day on the same property.

And it has a formidable competitor eyeing a share of the royalties, which could range from $7 million to nearly $70 million a year.


The dispute between Whittier and Los Angeles County hinges on whether the city has a right to allow development on the 1,280 acres of hill country it purchased in 1994 with $17 million of Proposition A funds, which were intended for conservation purposes. Until now, the 21,000 acres of open space and parklands created countywide with Proposition A funds had never hosted a business larger than a taco stand or boat concession.


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