Tony, and all,
If my memory serves me correctly, Placerita Canyon has a rich Native American and Spanish history. Both gold and natural oil or tar seeps were some of the attractions. Placerita Canyon has a small oil field adjacent to it. I also believe it was one of the first oil fields in California and has been in operation for a long time. I thing it is marginal at best at the present time. There use to be a small refinery nearby for road tar and other products. I am not sure if it is still in operation. When I drive the freeway, I usually see some of the wells pumping. If this pumping has stopped, the pressure in the fiels will rise naturally, activating some of the old seeps in the area. As you go through the freeway cut in the area, I thought there might have been some exposures of oil stained sandstones hinting at the presence of oil in the area.

I believe the Indians used the tar for lining pots and caulking boat or traded it. I would be interested in knowing if there were any repressuring programs for the small oil fiels which might account for the increase in activity. Barring that I know the seeps throughout Southern Cal. from time to time increase in activity as do the undersea seeps off the coast. It certainly warrents some investigation and interested opservations.

I would also check with the park rangers to see if they have any records of the site and what has transpired at it in history. If indeed there was an old oil well there, it most likely was not capped correctly. They may also know if it was a site the Indians used to collect oil and tar from.

Many of the old abandoned Signal Hill wells were cut off and a big redwood plug driven into the casing before they were buried. As soon as the plug rotted away, the wells began to seep oil or natural gas, causing all kinds of problems. A number of years ago one such leak cause a gas explosin and fire at a Ross store.

I am sure we will all be interested in seeing what happens over the next year.

Bob in Woodland Hills