Ladera Ranch CA Sits On Old Oil Wells at Citrus Lane and Near Poets Park Not Properly Plugged and Warned Not to Build Over in July 2001

Sat July 25, 2026, This so called re-abondonment of the decades old oil well at/under Poets Park on July 19, 2001 is bogus. Paul Frost engineer and rep for DOGGR was at the Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA job site from 9:30 am to 10:30 am on Thursday July 19, 2001. Paul Frost called DOGGR home office in Sacramento CA at 10:30 am to get an ok to close the well by plugging the well from 351 feet up to the surface, as they could not get past an obstruction at 351', leaving the other 8,014 feet to the bottom open to the elements. "Evidence now, theories later" my independent investigation of rare cancer cluster in Ladera Ranch CA and two abandoned oil & gas wells deep drilled thousands of feet underground that I published today about 'not building over' the poorly re-capped wells in July 2001 by DMB Ladera LLC the developer of the $100 million dollar project.  

Story behind cancer cluster in Ladera Ranch CA appears to link to old oil wells found underground and possible benzene vapors in the sewer system, any usable drinking water has to be piped in. There does not appear to be a link from the old oil wells underground to the Ladera Ranch drinking water, they are totally separate. The drinking water for Ladera Ranch is stored in underground concrete lined reservoirs. There is no major usable drinking-water aquifer directly beneath Ladera Ranch or in South Orange County, so there is no connection from the old oil wells to the water, there is no aquifer water supply underground. Like most of South Orange County, Ladera Ranch does not rely on local groundwater for its primary drinking supply; water is imported via major regional pipelines. Ladera Ranch, California gets its drinking water imported and piped in from regional water agencies via the Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD) with chloramine and the sulfites in the water.

VIDEO above: Ladera Ranch CA has two abandoned oil wells sitting deep drilled underground that could be leaking carcinogenic benzene and deadly hydrogen sulfide H2S gas, one is near a kids playground at Poets Park. I first warned of these very potential deadly oil well problems on July 25, 2026. 

Deep wells tapping into older, sulfur-rich hydrocarbon formations (often referred to as "sour" zones) frequently experience degradation of their original cement plugs and steel casings over time. This structural failure creates a direct pathway for highly hazardous subsurface gases to migrate thousands of feet back up to the surface.

Researchers hypothesize that emissions like benzene and other aromatic hydrocarbons possess clastogenic (chromosome-breaking) properties that might cause DNA damage via oxidative stress from old abandoned crude oil & gas wells plugged & capped (P&A) that contain hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) gas. 

The exact root cause of the genetic swap between chromosome 11 and chromosome 22 (called a translocation) that leads to Ewing Sarcoma is unknown, and it happens completely at random after a person is born. Ewing Sarcoma is not inherited from parents. Oil and gas development (OGD) has been linked to increased pediatric cancer risk, but the literature to date is focused on hematologic malignancies and active wells. The emergence of suspected clusters of cancers such as Ewing sarcoma in children living near OGD and widespread presence of abandoned wells plugged & capped (P&A) in California warrants investigation. 

ABC Local News: Abandoned oil and orphan wells in California frequently leak hazardous gases like methane, benzene, and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) into nearby neighborhoods. ABC News partnered with six owned and affiliated stations as part of the reporting project: KABC, KAKE, KFSN, KMGH, KTRK, and WRTV. Studies have shown that leaking abandoned wells typically emit methane -- a highly combustible and potent greenhouse gas. But they can also leak carcinogenic benzene, as well as hydrogen sulfide or H2S, an extremely deadly gas that can kill humans even during short exposures.

Thomas M. Walker an independent petroleum consultant and senior reservoir engineer in California was working (paid) as the rep for DMB Ladera LLC and was overseeing the re-abandonment project (that was stuck at 351') of the old Exxon Mobil oil well that was drilled down to 8,365' on Thursday morn July 19, 2001 near Poets Park, Walker was there with DOGGR rep/engineer Paul Frost. A DOGGR directive required cement to be squeezed past the blockage at 351 feet on outside of casing down to bottom of oil well to protect the lower 8,014 feet, it was not done according to site reports filed by Paul Frost rep for DOGGR at Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA. 

All off this additional oil well re-abandonment work to squeeze cement down to the bottom of the 8,365 foot oil well would be very time consuming, shut down the construction project all around the vicinity of Poets Park that had started full speed ahead in Aug 1998. Now DMB Ladera LLC was looking at up to 3 weeks delay and at additional costs of up to $400,000 and a PR nightmare if the media (LA Times) got wind of the job shut down due to old oil wells found drilled down to 8,000 and 4,000 feet under Ladera Ranch. Not what the bosses at DMB Ladera LLC could or would tolerate right in the middle of their $100 million dollar construction project in July 2001, three years after the project started. 

Oil wells dating back to 1921 in Ladera Ranch Orange County CA can have steel casing failure which involves steel pipe corrosion, cement degradation from earthquakes, and subsurface pressure migration of up to 8,000 PSI, which can lead to methane gas leaks, hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) leaks and groundwater hydrocarbon contamination. 

In 2001 the LA Times wrote several articles for promotion of Ladera Ranch. Ladera Ranch, CA was launched by master developer Rancho Mission Viejo LLC and then DMB Ladera LLC with Phoenix-based DMB Associates providing the financial backing for the 4,000-acre Ladera planned community project. Ladera Ranch was heavily advertised as one of the nation's first fully "wired" master-planned communities. Archived promotional strategies and advertising materials from 2001 focused heavily on two contrasting but complementary themes: nostalgic, small-town Americana and cutting-edge, futuristic internet connectivity. In 2001, when home internet was still largely dial-up, Ladera built its entire marketing framework around a private, high-speed community intranet called LaderaLife.com. The overarching theme of the 2001 marketing material was the concept of giving families "roots and wings."  

Executive and larger premium homes topped out in the $600,000 to $700,000 range. At the time in 2001, less than 2% of the entire Orange County luxury market had crossed the million-dollar threshold. If the old deep drilled oil wells discovered underground in early 2001 at Ladera Ranch had made news in the LA Times, home sales and contracts wold have evaporated and existing home owners would have been filing lawsuits, DMB Ladera LLC most likely would have gone bankrupt. DMB Ladera LLC kept their dirty little secret covered up for 25 years of the poorly re-capped oil wells, until now.

On July 25, 2026 I wrote; Abandoned Oil Wells Under Poets Park and Citrus Lane Ladera Ranch CA Drinking Water Needs Testing. There are two abandoned oil wells located in Ladera Ranch CA. The Exxon Mobil oil & gas well near/under Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA was originally deep drilled down to 8,365 feet in 1961, about 1.5 miles and not properly re-capped in July 2001. Residents and officials in Ladera Ranch, California, have raised alarms over a cluster of exceptionally rare pediatric cancers, specifically Ewing sarcoma and synovial sarcoma, affecting roughly 12 children and young adults.  

A Re-abandonment of an oil well is the process of re-entering a previously plugged and abandoned wellbore to repair, like the ones mentioned in Ladera Ranch drilled here in 1921 and 1961, reseal, or upgrade its integrity. This is necessary when an older Zombie well's original cement plugs degrade or fail, allowing oil, gas, or toxic wastewater to leak, approximate min cost per well to re-plug and re-cap is $180,000.

The exact location off all abandoned oil wells in California is found in Cal-Gen well finder by the oil wells API number. The oil wells location is given in Latitude and Longitude numbers, the well near Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA is 33°32'44.1"N  117°38'10.3"W, it is under the street by the sewer manhole cover, it is under the street not under anyone's house.

What is causing a Ewing sarcoma cancer cluster in Ladera Ranch CA and in two other nearby locations? Clastogenesis is the process of structural chromosome breakage that leads to aberrations like deletions, insertions, and rearrangements of chromosomes. Clastogenesis is a well-documented consequence of chronic benzene exposure driven by its reactive metabolites targeting bone marrow cells, benzene is a by product of crude oil. Are there problems with the two old oil wells found under Ladera Ranch? In Ewing sarcoma, a highly malignant pediatric bone and soft tissue cancer, clastogenesis plays a central role through a specific reciprocal chromosomal translocation rather than simple random deletions or rearrangements of genetic material.

While Ewing sarcoma is fundamentally driven by a specific chromosomal rearrangement (the EWS-FLI1 gene fusion), emerging cepidemiological research is investigating whether environmental clastogens—such as benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons found in crude oil and petroleum development—induce the DNA damage and oxidative stress necessary to trigger these oncogenic mutations. Crude oil from a well plugged & capped contains varying amounts of aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) including benzene, toluene, ethyl-benzene, hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) gas, and xylene. PAHs can enter the body (inhaled or drinking water) and cause changes to cells and chromosomes which then can cause Ewing Sarcoma cancer researchers have reported. There are 100 year old Oil & Gas wells plugged & capped under Ladera Ranch CA.

All during August 2026 I posted articles about my discovery of old abandoned oil & gas wells underground at Ladera Ranch CA and the fact that they were not properly re-capped in July 2001 when DMB Ladera LLC found them during site development of the $100 million dollar project. It is also possible that remnants of leaking crude oil could be linked to numerous cases of Ewing sarcoma cancer in Ladera Ranch. 

DMB Ladera LLC the developer of Ladera Ranch Ca knew that there were two old abandoned oil & gas wells under the proposed Ladera Ranch community in July 2001 when the wells were unearthed during site development. DMB Ladera LLC had the old oil & gas wells recapped by Oct 2002 at a cost of at least $180,00 each, and continued building Ladera Ranch even though re-abandonment notations of October 24th, 2002 on the 100 year old Union Oil Company oil & gas well located under Citrus Lane indicated that "this well is not to be built over without further consideration". DMB ladera LLC knew about the decades old oil wells in 2001 and just continued with the $100 million dollar master plan, keeping the information secret for 25 years, until now.

In California, state well destruction standards require a well to be plugged from the bottom up to isolate different geological layers from over 1.5 miles underground. If the drilling crew working for DMB Ladera LLC could only place a plug at 351 feet, it means the remaining 8,014 feet of the borehole is left completely unplugged and open. Ladera Ranch CA the $100 million dollar master-planned community broke ground in August 1999. DMB Ladera LLC was the master developer of Ladera Ranch CA from 1998 to 2005 overseeing the site development and installation of utilities such as the electrical grid and drinking water and sewer systems.

At a true vertical depth of 8,365 feet the oil well at Poets Park the pressure at the bottom of the steel casing inside the plugged and capped well will generally range between 3,628 psi and 4,350 psi (pounds per square inch). Drilling Mud / Abandonment Fluid (10.0 ppg): The oil well near Poets Park in Ladera Ranch CA was drilled down 8, 365 feet but during the July 2001 re-abandonment by DMB Ladera LLC only 351 feet was filled with mud. Under California regulations (managed by CalGEM), a well undergoing official plugging and abandonment is legally required to be filled with stable, heavy drilling mud to prevent structural collapse and fluid migration. At a standard mud weight of 10 pounds per gallon (ppg), the bottom pressure would be 4,350 psi. 

Under California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) regulations, plugging a deep well at only 351 feet leaving over 8,000 feet of unsealed borehole is generally not accepted as a permanent or safe abandonment. to isolate fluid migration. A single surface-level plug at 351 feet leaves the bottom 8,000+ feet completely open, allowing deep hydrocarbons, pressurized gases, and toxic brine to travel upward and escape laterally into shallow drinking aquifers. State guidelines specify that when an obstruction is encountered, it must be cleared, clean-drilled, or "fished out" so the underlying intervals can be isolated. If it cannot be cleared, the state requires specialized remedial measures (like "squeezing" cement under high pressure around the obstruction) rather than simply giving up and pouring a shallow plug.

Paul Frost engineer and rep for DOGGR was at Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA job site from 9:30 am to 10:30 am on July 19, 2001. Tom Walker an independent petroleum consultant and senior reservoir engineer in California was working as the rep for DMB Ladera Ranch and was overseeing the re-abandonment project on July 19, 2001. The re-abandonment of the old 1961 oil & gas well that was deep drilled to 8,365 feet under Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA did not go well in July 2001. On July 19, 2001 the drillers hit a hard surface at 349 feet most likely the steel casing to the 1961 era oil well had collapsed. 

The rep for DOGGR and DMB Ladera LLC contacted DOGGR home office and a got an approval at 10:30 am, over the phone, to stop drilling and fill the casing with cement from 351 down to the surface, leaving the other 8,016 feet of casing pipe unfilled, WTH? DOGGR stands for the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources. It was a California state regulatory agency. In 2020, it was officially renamed CalGEM (California Geologic Energy Management Division) to emphasize public health, safety, and environmental protection.

"NOT TO BE BUILT OVER" on Citrus Lane Ladera Ranch CA. Public records and local community reports highlight two historical wildcatter oil & gas wells buried beneath residential sections of Ladera Ranch near/under Poets Park. Records point to an old oil & gas well drilled down over 8,000 feet directly under or adjacent to Poets Park. A second historical well, drilled deep, is located beneath the Citrus Lane area to about 4,350 feet drilled in 1921, the well is over 100 years old, I'm sure the steel casings have deteriorated by now.  

The two oil wells appear to have been re-capped in 2001 and 2002 during site construction of Ladera Ranch, they were known to be there. On July 23rd, 2026, I first discovered online from a "Oil Well Locator" the location of two very old and very deep drilled oil & gas wells in the north west area of Rancho Mission Viejo which later became Ladera Ranch CA, and published an article on July 25th, 2026 which stated "Ladera Ranch CA Built on Top of 2 Abandoned Zombie Oil and Gas Wells". 

Reports were directly sent to Thomas M. Walker rep (middle man or cutout) for DMB Ladera LLC concerning the discovered old deep drilled oil & gas wells. DMB Ladera LLC knew in Aug 2000 there was a oil & gas well problem. The old oil & gas wells deep drilled from 1921 and 1961 under Ladera Ranch were re-plugged and re-capped by June 2002, (which is called a re-abandonment), covered up with dirt and kept secret for the last 25 years. But, there were serious problems with the re-abandonment of the old oil & gas wells under Ladera Ranch CA. DMB Ladera LLC is the Delaware foreign limited liability company entity formed by Ladera Development Company LLC in December 1996 to build the $100 million dollar Ladera Ranch, a 4,000-acre master-planned community in Orange County, CA, Jeremy Laster was listed as the Agent on California Corporations paper work. DMB Ladera LLC overseen community infrastructure, governance, and trademark assets like the local resident network. It was full speed ahead once DMB Ladera LLC broke ground, no stopping now, come hell or high water.

Recent large-scale studies have investigated potential links between hydrocarbon exposure and Ewing sarcoma, finding suggestive risks associated specifically with abandoned oil and gas wells. Perinatal exposure to ambient fine particle air pollution and risk of childhood Ewing sarcoma in a population-based case-control study in California. Crude oil based Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are known to induce oxidative stress and DNA damage.  

If the steel casings of the decades old 1920's, 1950's and 1960's deep drilled oil & gas wells in Ladera Ranch and Dana Point CA had crumbled and released crude oil or methane/benzine gas into the sewer system there will be severe health problems. A 1950's deep drilled oil & gas well is right under a (SCWD) sanitary sewer operations facility known as the J.B. Latham Treatment Plant in Dana Point at 34152 Del Obispo St, Dana Point, CA. A 1960's era deep drilled oil & gas well is right under the SMWD sewer system at Poets Park Ladera Ranch and there is a 1920's era deep drilled oil & gas well under the SMWD sewer line at Citrus Lane Ladera Ranch with notations to NOT build over this well. Crude oil intrusion into a sewer system can cause significant human health problems. 

Whether the entry occurs through a ruptured underground pipeline, an accidental industrial leak, or illegal dumping, mixing crude oil with wastewater infrastructure poses both immediate and long-term medical risks. Crude oil contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like benzene, toluene, and xylene. Because sewer systems connect directly to homes and businesses via plumbing vents and drains, these hazardous gases can travel up pipelines and enter indoor living spaces. Children, the elderly, and individuals with asthma or pre-existing respiratory conditions are highly susceptible. Chronic exposure to chemicals found in crude oil, specifically benzene, is known to cause leukemia and other cancers under California Proposition 65 guideline.

In Ladera Ranch CA the old oil & gas well near Poets Park was drilled in 1961 to 8,365 ft, decades later in 2001 a re-abondment was done but only able to drill down and plug at 351 feet, is this a problem? Yes, this is a very serious problem that indicates a failed well abandonment. A well originally drilled to 8,365 feet is almost certainly a deep oil or gas well (water wells are rarely drilled this deep). In California, state well destruction standards require a well to be plugged from the bottom up to isolate different geological layers from over 1.5 miles underground. If the crew could only place a plug at 351 feet, it means the remaining 8,014 feet of the borehole is left completely unplugged and open.  “Drinking water and wastewater are tied together,” San Juan Bautista Councilman John Freeman said. “It’s like peanut butter and jelly.”

(1). Groundwater Contamination: Leaving 8,000+ feet of open hole allows toxic saltwater, crude oil, and drilling fluids from deep zones to migrate upwards. They can easily breach and contaminate fresh shallow drinking water aquifers.

(2). Deep hydrocarbon reservoirs release methane gas. If the 8,000+ feet lower part of the oil & gas well is not sealed, methane will travel up the casing. A shallow plug at 351 feet can degrade or leak, allowing gas to migrate into nearby soil, surface structures, or homes, creating a severe fire and explosion risk.

(3). Being stopped at 351 feet implies the well casing collapsed, or debris jammed inside the 8,365 feet hole (called "bridging") during the 1962 re-abandonment. The 2001 workers essentially poured cement on top of a blockage instead of sealing the actual well.

In California abandoned and orphaned oil wells are known to leak volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous gases, including toxic aromatic hydrocarbons like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX), as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) originating from residual crude oil and toxic formation waters. If toxic formation waters leaks into drinking water, it makes people and animals very sick. Benzene: A known human carcinogen is present in crude oil and leaking well gas.  

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs): Heavier multi-ring aromatic compounds that accumulate in soils adjacent to leaking or inactive wells over long periods, like the 65 year old well near Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA. Emerging research suggests a potential link between exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and an increased risk of Ewing sarcoma.  

When toxic formation water leaks into drinking water, it introduces deep underground brines, heavy metals, radioactive elements, and chemical additives directly into surface or groundwater aquifers. Toxic formation water the brackish high salt offshoot of old oil wells runoff also contains Dissolved Hydrocarbons: Includes toxic organic compounds like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes (BTEX), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

PEOPLE/MAG. Dad Brian Dalton Demands Answers After Daughter Lilly Dies of Rare Cancer: Why Are So Many Kids Getting Sick in This Ladera Ranch CA Community? Three days after graduating from college at Loyola University in New Orleans, Lilly Dalton told her parents her stomach hurt. Doctors found a tumor on the 21-year-old’s liver and she was diagnosed with a very rare, one-of-a-kind cancer, desmoplastic small round cell tumor or DSRCT. 

Lilly Dalton was raised in Laguna Niguel, a city in Orange County, CA just six miles from Ladera Ranch, where 12 children and young adults (and 30 some dogs with cancer) have been diagnosed with another rare cancer, Ewing sarcoma. “That’s not a coincidence,” says her father, Brian Dalton. Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) is caused by a specific genetic error where chromosomes 11 and 22 break and rejoin. This creates an abnormal fusion gene called EWSR1-WT1, (very similar to Ewing sarcoma) which turns normal cells into fast-growing cancer cells. Environmental clastogens—such as benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons found in crude oil and petroleum development—induce the DNA damage and oxidative stress necessary to trigger these oncogenic mutations.

Oil and gas development (OGD) has been linked to increased pediatric cancer risk, but the literature to date is focused on hematologic malignancies and active wells. The emergence of suspected clusters of cancers such as Ewing sarcoma in children living near OGD and widespread presence of abandoned wells warrants investigation. If the steel casings of the decades old 1920's and 1960's deep drilled oil & gas wells in Ladera Ranch CA had crumbled and released crude oil or methane/benzine gas into the sewer system there will be severe health problems. 

Brian Dalton is a vocal advocate and grieving father who has become a prominent figure in demanding a formal investigation into a potential childhood cancer cluster in and around Ladera Ranch, California. His daughter, Lily Dalton, tragically passed away in January 2026 at the age of 23 following a battle with a rare soft-tissue cancer. Testing revealed her tumor had a gene fusion associated with Ewing sarcoma, a highly aggressive and exceptionally rare bone and soft-tissue cancer. 

Brian Dalton said, Ladera Ranch is a small, small community. Lilly’s boyfriend of three years lived right there where all of these cancer cases are popping up. She was there all the time. "When I heard the cancer cluster was across from Founder’s Park, I was like, “Wait, where did her boyfriend live?” "He lived across the street". It is 880 yards from Founder's Park to Poets Park where the old oil & gas well is located in Ladera Ranch CA, you can walk it in 10 minutes. Mr. Brian Dalton appears to not believe in the cancer coincidences in Ladera Ranch that affected his daughter Lilly and several others including household pets, he's right! 

I don’t believe in coincidences either Mr Dalton, to me a coincidence whether in terrorism or a criminal act is a conspiracy of the guilty. What happened and what continues to happen in Ladera Ranch CA with a growing sarcoma cancer cluster in kids and teenagers is totally unacceptable and actionable if aromatic hydrocarbon sources were treated lightly and covered up 25 years ago. The Moulton Niguel Water District and the Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD) connect through several regional infrastructure partnerships, joint water and recycled water agreements, and shared co-operations in South Orange County.

What's the cancer connection? Cases of Ewing sarcoma cancer confirmed in Ladera Ranch, San Juan Capistrano and Rancho Santa Margarita CA all within roughly 10 miles — dated between 2008 and 2024.

What's confirmed: Families in Ladera Ranch report that at least six children have been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma — a rare bone and soft-tissue cancer — with going back to 2013. Importantly, these are diagnoses, not deaths: current news coverage identifies one of the six, 17-year-old Brody Matteson, as having died in 2026.

Separately, residents searching public reports have identified four more Ewing sarcoma diagnoses in nearby communities — San Juan Capistrano and Rancho Santa Margarita, within roughly 10 miles — dated between 2008 and 2022. These are counted separately from the Ladera Ranch six above, on purpose: a wider area and a longer span also cover a far larger population, so the two groups cannot simply be added together, we'll see about that!

"Who knew what, where, and when" are my investigative questions to Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD) to establish facts during my inquiry of abandoned oil & gas wells plugged & capped (P&A) under Ladera Ranch CA. Ladera Ranch resident Megan Matteson says her son Brody was just 17 years old when he passed away from Ewing sarcoma. "He was an outdoor kid.

There was a time to be outside, that was Brody," Megan Matteson told NBC Los Angeles. "He was out on his bike, out at the park. They were building bike jumps. He was out at all the parks around Ladera. The concentration of cases in a single community is deeply troubling, especially to those who live there,” Candice Bond, managing partner of Bond Legal, which has stated that it is investigating the cluster, said in The Legal Advocate. 

Families in Orange County’s Ladera Ranch have spent months pushing officials to investigate whether environmental factors played a role in an alarming number of Ewing sarcoma diagnoses among local children, 9 cases so far since 2007. The data does not include several diagnoses reported after 2021, including 17-year-old Brody Matteson, who died in March 2026 after battling the rare bone and soft tissue cancer. 

Small amounts of petroleum hydrocarbons in drinking water can be deadly for dogs, apparently there are multiple reported cases of dogs dying in Ladera Ranch which is a fairly new community opening in 2004 - 2005. California water districts use chloramines instead of free chlorine during petroleum risk scenarios because chloramines have lower chemical reactivity. 

This suppresses the rapid, aggressive halogenation of petroleum hydrocarbons that would otherwise create spiked levels of carcinogenic disinfection byproducts (DBPs). Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD) uses chloramines as a drinking water disinfectant in the distribution system for communities like Ladera Ranch CA. There are 100 year old Oil & Gas wells plugged & capped (P&A) under Ladera Ranch CA.

OVERALL CANCER CONNECTION: Drinking Water for Ladera Ranch, Rancho Santa Margarita, and San Juan Capistrano is supplied primarily by the Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD). These 3 locations are the epicenter for Ewing Sarcoa cancer. The water portfolio relies on imported supplies from the Colorado River Aqueduct and Northern California's State Water Project, supplemented by local groundwater from the San Juan Basin aquifer and recycled water programs.

Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD) supplies drinking water for Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Coto de Caza, Ladera Ranch, Las Flores, and Rancho Mission Viejo. Supplemented by local groundwater from the San Juan Basin aquifer and recycled water programs. The San Juan Valley Groundwater Basin (often called the San Juan Basin) in California is a 26-square-mile alluvial aquifer in southern Orange County. It underlies the San Juan Creek watershed, providing local drinking water supplies through municipal wells and desalter treatment facilities.

Dogs in Ladera Ranch CA getting cancer by the dozens. Ladera Ranch resident Kira Davis now believes pets in the Orange County community could also be developing serious illnesses, after her own dog was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor and a flood of neighbors shared similar stories. Davis said she initially thought her family's experience was a heartbreaking coincidence after her dog suddenly became sick with cancer. But after sharing her dog's diagnosis in a community chat group, Davis said she was stunned by the response. "I received dozens and dozens of posts" from neighbors telling her their pets had also become ill with cancer, she said, raising new questions about whether something in the community could be affecting both animals and people.

LA Times; Hazardous South L.A. oil wells plugged after decades of leaking! Feb 14, 2026 — Tens of thousands of unproductive and unplugged oil wells have been abandoned across California — many of which continue to leak potentially hazardous gases and hydrocarbons into local communities. Abandoned, idle, and orphaned oil and gas wells plugged & capped (P&A) in California leak hazardous materials like methane, benzene, hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) gas, and toxic brine, threatening public health, groundwater, and the climate with hydrocarbons that cause cancer.

Zombie Oil & Gas Wells in Orange County CA Spring to Life. The Zombie oil well marked #4 on the map above is a Chevron/Texaco oil well API 04-059-01246 plugged and abandoned, it sits very near San Juan Creek, just south of the Solag Disposal Co garbage dump and just south of the Village of Rienda, Rancho Mission Viejo CA near Ortega Highway. Solag Disposal garbage dump was temporarily closed. The Chevron/Texaco oil well API 04-059-01246 plugged and abandoned in 1964 is marked Operator Status ACTIVE. On a map it sits directly south of the Village of Rienda, Rancho Mission Viejo CA.

The San Juan Valley Groundwater Basin is a 26-square-mile alluvial aquifer in southern Orange County, it underlies the San Juan Creek watershed, providing local drinking water supplies through municipal wells to Ladera Ranch, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Juan Capistrano CA. Chevron/Texaco oil well API 04-059-01246 is very near San Juan Creek, it was deep drilled to 3,730 feet, just south of the Village of Rienda, Rancho Mission Viejo CA, click on latitude longitude coordinates 33.515638, -117.568651

The Village of Rienda is the largest and newest master-planned community village in Rancho Mission Viejo (RMV), located in South Orange County, California. Encompassing over 400 acres, it is designed as a multi-phase "ranch-forward" development that will eventually feature roughly 2,680 residences.

It should be concerning to all that a supposedly abandoned Chevron/Texaco oil well sits so close to San Juan Creek, this old Chevron/Texaco oil well site was drilled to 3,730 feet in July 1964, off of Gibby Rd Rancho Mission Viejo, the private road to this well site is gated and secured from the public, why? The water infrastructure seen here is managed by the Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD).

Reports and a letter from July 1964 indicate the Chevron/Texaco oil well O'Neill #2 is to be converted to a fresh water well and used by the land owner, at that time, Crocker-Citizens National Bank Santa Ana CA. Crocker-Citizens National Bank operated a branch in downtown Santa Ana, California, during the mid-20th century. Located within Santa Ana's historic financial district along Main Street and Broadway, the bank was part of the city's mid-century core before the institution was acquired and absorbed into Wells Fargo in 1986.

Originally this Chevron oil well was identified as Texaco oil well O'Neill #2. A water testing report from August 20, 1964 indicated that the well water was bad and NOT usable for agriculture irrigation and certainly not usable for human consumption. "Yeah all that brackish salt water in the well not suitable for irrigation or drinking". "Yeah, sure. Salt water bad for the glass". The water infrastructure seen here is managed by the Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD).

The water in the Chevron/Texaco oil well O'Neill #2 close to San Juan Creek tested in Aug/1964 showed a combined total reading of 926.9 mg/L (parts per million) for sodium and potassium which is extremely high. Drinking water normally has sodium levels under 20 to 50 mg/L. This high level indicates heavy mineralization and potential saltwater intrusion. "Yeah, sure. Bad for the glass".

The water in the Chevron/Texaco oil well O'Neill #2 close to San Juan Creek tested in Aug/1964 showed a chloride level of 1560.0 mg/L (or ppm) is extremely high—more than six times the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recommended secondary standard of 250 mg/L. This means your water is heavily brackish, will taste very salty, and is unsafe for standard domestic use or appliances without heavy treatment.

The water in the Chevron/Texaco oil well O'Neill #2 close to San Juan Creek tested in Aug/1964 showed a reading of 2735.9 Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) means the well water contains an extremely high concentration of dissolved minerals, salts, and metals, severely exceeding standard drinking water guidelines, the water sure as hell did not age well and improve over the last 62 years. The water infrastructure seen here is managed by the Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD).

The oil well water tested 62 years ago near San Juan Creek at 2735.9 Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and a chloride level of 1560.0 mg/L (or ppm) These numbers mean that 62 years ago, the well wate r was extremely brackish, severely salty, and functionally undrinkable by modern standards without advanced treatment. When toxic formation water leaks into drinking water, it introduces deep underground brines, heavy metals, radioactive elements, and chemical additives directly into surface or groundwater aquifers. Toxic formation water the brackish high salt offshoot of old oil wells runoff also contains Dissolved Hydrocarbons: Includes toxic organic compounds like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes (BTEX), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

Plumbing and Appliances: Water with this extremely brackish chemistry is highly corrosive. It causes rapid pinhole leaks in copper and brass pipes, aggressively rusts iron fixtures, and leaves severe mineral scaling inside water heaters, boilers, and appliances. This well appears to be in operation in 2026. The water infrastructure seen here is managed by the Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD).

There was a big lawsuit in Ladera Ranch CA over pinhole leaks in copper and brass drinking water pipes in homes only 7 years old. Homeowners in Ladera Ranch, California, filed multiple class-action lawsuits against major residential developers (including Centex Homes, William Lyon Homes, and MBK Builders) over chronic pinhole leaks in defective copper water plumbing systems. The lawsuits secured millions in settlements to fund full home re-piping or epoxy coating. Looks like it was the water's fault not the cooper pipes furnished by the major residential developers.

The San Juan Creek watershed, providing local drinking water supplies through municipal wells and desalter treatment facilities to Ladera Ranch, Rancho Santa Margarita, Rancho Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano CA and several other locations. There does not appears to be a current water test of the Chevron/Texaco oil well O'Neill #2 close to San Juan Creek off of Gibby Rd, Rancho Mission Viejo CA. The water infrastructure seen here is managed by the Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD).

The private road off of Gibby Rd in Rancho Mission Viejo to the Chevron/Texaco oil well API 04-059-01246 drilled to 3,730 feet in July 1964 plugged and abandoned and then converted to a water well, was protected by a padlocked steel fence in 2021, with multiple bad ass warning signs to keep out no trespassing, RESTRICTED ROAD, trespassers will be prosecuted. The water infrastructure seen here is managed by the Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD).

The private road gate off of Gibby Rd has been updated and made to blend in with the surrounding landscape and not so intimidating in 2026. The Ortega Lift Station, seen above, is a critical component of the wastewater infrastructure managed by the Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD). In California, a wastewater lift station does not need water from an underground well to operate. 

A lift station relies entirely on the sewage and wastewater flowing into its own underground storage basin (wet well) via gravity pipes, using electric pumps and level sensors to lift and push that waste onward, so what's the deal with the old Chevron oil well converted to a water well at the other end of the private restricted road managed by the Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD)?

Major new housing projects off of Gibby Rd in Rancho Mission Viejo, CA, are centered around the final phases of the Village of Rienda and Gavilán Ridge. Prices for new construction range from the high $900Ks for smaller detached layouts to over $2 million for large single-family homes

In Orange County, California, dormant oil and gas wells known as "zombie wells" are literally springing back to life, posing immediate environmental, health, and structural threats to local communities. The most dramatic example occurred in late 2025 on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach CA, where a 1920s-era orphan well began bubbling up thick crude oil, methane, and hydrogen sulfide directly underneath residential foundations. In late December 2025, a historical well drilled in 1924 and deserted just five years later resurfaced in a densely populated Newport Beach CA neighborhood. 

Public records and local community reports highlight two historical wildcatter oil and gas wells buried beneath residential sections of Ladera Ranch Poets Park/Merriweather Place: Records point to an old well drilled down over 8,000 feet directly under or adjacent to Merriweather Place near Poets Park. Citrus Lane: A second historical well, drilled over 4,000 feet deep, is located beneath the Citrus Lane area.

Click on the image above for location of abandoned oil wells in south Orange County California. Abandoned oil & gas wells found under Ladera Ranch CA during my investigation in July 2026. Ladera Ranch, California is a premier, master-planned community in South Orange County designed specifically for young families. The average age hovers around 36 to 38 years old, significantly younger than the California state average. The median income in the area is approximately $184,000 to $196,000 per year, which is well above both state and national average. Property values are high, with average home values sitting around $1.38 million.

My investigation into rare cancer affecting 9 children and young adults that affects bones and soft tissue and about 35 dogs mostly with brain cancer at Ladera Ranch CA and the knowledge of a 65 year old Exxon Mobil oil well decaying underground at Poets Park is ongoing. The percentage of households in Ladera Ranch, CA with children shows that approximately 58.9% of households include children under the age of 18. We sure could use help from green activist and Big Oil's worst nightmare, Wendy Schmidt. Rather than focusing solely on traditional conservation, Wendy Schmidt philanthropy targets the systemic accountability of fossil fuel companies like Exxon Mobil. Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer that primarily affects children and young adults affects about 225 children a year nation wide, with a high percentage in Ladera Ranch CA.

Over 58% of Ladera Ranch CA households have children under the age of 18 living with them. Public schools belong to the highly-rated Capistrano Unified School District. Residents and local leaders in Ladera Ranch, California, have raised concerns over a potential pediatric cancer cluster involving rare diagnoses like Ewing sarcoma. Some community members have pointed to local factors—including historical land use, nearby landfills, routine local pesticide spraying (don't promote Ewing sarcoma), and the presence of abandoned or plugged oil and gas wells underneath parts of the development. 

LADERA CA DRINKING WATER STORAGE TANKS UNDERGROUND at Mission Hills Park. Ladera Ranch, California provides drinking water that meets all state and federal safety standards, supplied by the Santa Margarita Water District. There is a kids park located at 71 Bell Pasture Road directly atop local municipal water storage towers. One primary subterranean tank stores 4 million gallons of potable drinking water. A secondary tank holds 900,000 gallons of recycled water dedicated to local landscape irrigation. Orange County CA approved the Ladera Ranch master plan in 1997, which paved the way for ground development, planning, and permit gathering to begin in 1998. It has been discovered that wildcatters drilled two oil & gas wells in Ladera Ranch CA, one was deep drilled to 8,365 feet in 1961 and then plugged & capped (P&A) in 1962 classified as a dry hole (DH).

State oil and gas records indicate two deep, historical wildcatter wells lie beneath Ladera Ranch, California—one drilled to roughly 8,365 feet down near/under Merriweather Place and Poets Park in 1961, and another drilled down to about 4,350 feet on Citrus Lane in 1921. These old subterranean wells trace back to exploratory drilling before the master-planned community was carved out of Rancho Mission Viejo in 1998. The two oil wells appear to have been re-capped in 2001 and 2002 during construction of Ladera Ranch, they were known to be there. The Ewing sarcoma cancer cluster situation in Ladaera Ranch has now drawn federal attention, as First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli has called on the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate.

WHIPSTOCKING OIL WELLS LADERA RANCH CA: Ladera Ranch CA has two old oil & gas wells from the 1920's and the 1960's covered up by roads or homes, one well near Poets Park is drilled down 8,365 feet or 1.5 miles into the earths crust. Whipstocking was definitely used in California during the 1960s to drill and sidetrack wells to depths well over 8,000 feet. In the early 1920s, drillers aiming for deep reservoirs frequently exceeding 4,000 feet in fields like Signal Hill and Huntington Beach did not intentionally drill at an angle. However, they realized their deep vertical wells were naturally deflecting and crooked. By the late 1920s and early 1930s, pioneers like H. John Eastman revolutionized the industry by using oriented whipstocks deliberately. By the 1960s, whipstocking was no longer an experimental trick; it was a highly precise, standardized engineering tool used globally and extensively in California. By the 1960s, oil fields in regions like the Los Angeles Basin, Wilmington, Huntington Beach and the Central Valley were routinely being drilled down to 8,000–12,000+ feet, like in Ladera Ranch CA.

CALIFORNIA OIL WELLS; Public health interest has focused on whether exposure to hydrocarbons from oil and gas development such as benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAFs) are linked to rare pediatric cancers like Ewing sarcoma. Decades old and deep (4,000 feet or more) abandoned plugged and capped oil & gas wells in California produce Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) occurring naturally in crude oil as a result of the slow thermal breakdown and transformation of ancient organic matter over millions of years. Crude oil typically contains lighter, 2- to 3-ring PAH structures, which can enter the environment via natural seeps. These lighter 2- to 3-ring PAHs are more volatile and more water-soluble than heavier 4- to 6-ring PAHs.

DMB Ladera LLC is a joint-venture development company formed in December 1996 by the Santa Margarita Company (managing day-to-day operations) and Phoenix-based DMB Associates to develop Ladera Ranch. DMB Ladera LLC was the master developer of Ladera Ranch CA with construction from 1998 to 2005. DMB Ladera LLC knew that there were two old abandoned oil & gas wells under the proposed Ladera Ranch community in 2000 when the wells were unearthed during site development. DMB Ladera LLC had the old oil & gas wells recapped by Oct 2002 at a cost of at least $180,00 each, and continued building Ladera Ranch even though notations of 10/24/2002 on one of the wells indicated that "this well is not to be built over without further consideration". They knew about the wells in 2000 - 2001 and just continued with the plan.

California's SB 1137 oil setback law; Philanthropist, green activist and big oil's worst nightmare Wendy Schmidt helped lead California's high-profile "Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California," partnering with Jane Fonda and environmental groups to defend a 2022 law enforcing a 3,200-foot health setback between oil wells and homes or schools. It strictly prohibits new oil and gas drilling or the re-drilling/rework of existing wells near sensitive community sites like homes, schools, parks, and hospitals. What about Ladera Ranch CA? 

I wonder if green activist and big oil's worst nightmare Wendy Schmidt is aware of what is going on in cancer laden Ladera Ranch CA? I wonder if Wendy Schmidt is aware of the gas and oil leak from an abandoned oil well in the middle of a Newport Beach CA neighborhood had forced the city to declare a local emergency and has put the homes in the center of it all at risk of being torn down after toxic crude oil and explosive methane gas began leaking into homes in Dec 2025. Newport Beach CA to Ladera Ranch CA is only a 18 mile ride.

The oil industry, led by the California Independent Petroleum Association (CIPA), poured over $60 million into a ballot referendum aimed at repealing the law, which temporarily froze the protections. “This is a human issue, a family issue. It’s about the right of everyone in California, no matter where they live, to healthy air, uncontaminated soil and clean water,” said Wendy Schmidt, president and co-founder of the Schmidt Family Foundation. What about Ladera Ranch CA?

Click on the image above for location of abandoned oil wells in south Orange County California. UPDATE; KTLA-5, August 6th 2026.. Since 2007, about nine children connected to the Ladera Ranch community have been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer that primarily affects children and young adults CLICK HERE. Philanthropist Wendy Schmidt and environmental advocates have fought against the public health risks of urban oil drilling in Southern California. Living near active or leaking abandoned oil wells exposes communities to toxic air emissions that elevate cancer risks and trigger chronic health problems

Childhood cancer clusters linked to tainted water supplies are documented historical events in small American towns, most notably in Hinkley California, Toms River, New Jersey, Hillcrest New York, Wilmington, Massachusetts, and Woburn, Massachusetts. These cases typically involve industrial pollutants or crude oil leaking into local groundwater or municipal wells over many years. 

The Sins of Our Grandfathers Who Polluted the Drinking Water! The Hinkley, California water contamination involved the dumping of 370 million gallons of wastewater tainted with hexavalent chromium by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) between 1952 and 1966. Legal clerk Erin Brockovich uncovered the corporate negligence, leading to a historic $333 million class-action settlement on July 2, 1996. 

Note* At least six to nine children and young adults connected to the master-planned community of Ladera Ranch, California, have been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma an exceptionally rare bone and soft-tissue cancer prompting local families, state officials, and federal agencies to investigate a potential environmental cluster. 

Click on the image above for location of abandoned oil wells in California. My private investigation into cancer cluster in children and dogs and leaking copper water pipes in Ladera Ranch CA involves 100 year old crude oil & gas wells plugged & capped (P&A) under the community, is this the catalyst for everything, we'll see! 

I have no formal legal training, I am not a doctor, I am not an environmentalist,  I am not a scientist, I am not a wildcatter and the only connection I have to the oil and gas well biz is what I have seen on the Landman series with explanations by Billy Bob Thorntan, but I do have a real life Texas Landman helping me with the technical aspects of my investigation along with verifying my oil & gas well statements. 

My expertise is what I can do in researching the origins of Ladera Ranch with a deep dive investigation into subjects like toxic wastewater from deep drilled abandoned Zombie oil wells that keeps pouring out gases and hydrocarbons out of the ground in south Orange County California. 

Some community members have pointed to local factors—including historical land use, nearby landfills, routine local pesticide spraying, and the presence of abandoned or plugged oil and gas wells underneath parts of the development. State oil and gas records indicate two deep, historical wildcatter wells lie beneath Ladera Ranch, California—one drilled to roughly 8,365 feet near/under Merriweather Place and Poets Park, and another down to about 4,350 feet on Citrus Lane. These old subterranean wells trace back to exploratory drilling before the master-planned community was carved out of Rancho Mission Viejo in 1998. The situation has now drawn federal attention, as First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli has called on the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate.

Oil & Gas wells really never die, though. Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA is a hell of a place to build a kids playground next to a 65 year old underground Exxon Mobil oil & gas well that was drilled down 8,365 feet or 1 1/2 miles through the earths crust, WTH? 

The miles of steel piping and cement have corroded over the years, providing routes to enter the surface for noxious gases and hydrocarbons. Methane, the principal ingredient of natural gas, is the most worrisome of these. If a bullet is carbon dioxide, then methane is the H-Bomb.  

Oil & Gas Wells in south Orange County CA 'Ranchos' drilled down to 8,365 feet in 1961 and plugged and capped (P&A) and then again in 2000 plugged and capped (P&A) down to only 351 feet can still leak oil & gas 25 years later in 2026. Oil and gas wells fitting this exact history can—and frequently do—leak decades after being plugged and capped. 

FRAUD: In California, Ladera Ranch, developers, real estate agents and sellers are/were legally obligated to disclose known material facts that affect a property’s value, safety, or desirability. If an oil well environmental site sits on or directly adjacent to the property, failing to disclose it violates both California statutory law and the agent’s common-law fiduciary duties. 

If a developer (like DMB Ladera LLC), Realtor or seller had actual or constructive knowledge of an oil well environmental hazard and intentionally or negligently concealed it, they can be held liable for fraud, deceit, or breach of fiduciary duty. A failure to disclose gives the buyer grounds to pursue damages for diminished property value, remediation costs, or even a rescission of the entire home purchase. DMB Ladera LLC was the master developer of Ladera Ranch CA with construction from 1998 to 2005. 

Click on the image above for location of abandoned oil wells in California. There is a old oil & gas well drilled down deep 8,365 feet (1.5 miles) under the road on Merriweather PL right up to Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA (P&A) and their is a second old oil & gas well drilled down 4,350 feet (P&A) on Citrus Lane Ladera Ranch CA. 

Ladera Ranch Ca was originally drawn from a NE section of the Rancho Mission Viejo in 1996. CalGEM data was compiled to identify when well ownership transfers had occurred and identify both the divesting and acquiring companies. 

Even when a well has been plugged multiple times such as a well down 8,365 feet (1.5 miles) in 1961 and re-plugged closer to the surface at 351 feet in 2000, it remains a permanent puncture through the Earth’s crust. Over time, physical and chemical forces degrade the seals, presenting ongoing environmental risks.

Poets Park in Ladera Ranch CA uses reclaimed water to irrigate the park, DO NOT DRINK. The Ladera Ranch Maintenance Corporation (LARMAC) manages the landscaping throughout the community, utilizing a highly advanced, centralized irrigation system. 

Roughly 90% to 97% of all public and common-area landscaping in Ladera Ranch is watered using recycled water provided by the Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD). Reclaimed water used near or sourced from active and old oil wells can contain petroleum hydrocarbons and other industrial contaminants in Orange County CA.

Click on the image above for location of abandoned oil wells in California. Evidence now, theory later, let's stick to the facts. US Govt GSA storage depots and old abandoned oil and gas wells emit known carcinogens like benzene, which significantly increase the risk of cancers such as leukemia for nearby residents and industry workers, which I have documented HERE.

Click on the image above for location of abandoned oil wells in California. Orange County CA is filled with thousands of abandoned oil wells plugged & capped (P&A), many of them still active and leaking toxic gas. After years of legal battles, they're starting to be re-plugged and capped (P&A), a task that could cost tens of millions of dollars. 

California is facing an urgent climate and public health crisis: 41,568 old oil & gas wells (P&A) currently sit abandoned or covered up leaking methane, hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) gas, and volatile organic compounds into the air, water, and soils in communities, what about Ladera Ranch CA?

Portions of modern-day Ladera Ranch and surrounding south Orange County communities are built upon the historic lands of the 19th-century Rancho Trabuco and Rancho Mission Viejo acquired by the O'Neill and Flood families. Ladera Ranch Ca was originally drawn from a NE section of the Rancho Mission Viejo in 1998, purchased from the O'Neill family. 

Originally way back in 1921 info about the oil & gas well under Citrus Lane was described on the paper work as the O'neill parcel as the whole area which became Ladera Ranch was refereed to as the O"Neill parcel, that was the only way to identify the area, as there were no roads, no town, no village, no Ladera Ranch, nothing there but pasture land owned by Richard J. O'Neill family.

A re-abondonment was done on the 1961 oil & gas well near Poets Park in 2000-2001 after it was discovered next to Poets Park during the site development and installation of the infrastructure. The Ladera Ranch master-planned community broke ground in August 1999, so why didn't they know about the oil & gas well next to the then proposed Poets Park in 1998 during the planning stage, WTH? 

Under intense pressure brine and brackish water carries all kinds of nightmares and if it’s got pressure to send it (8,000 PSI), it’s like a genius idiot finding low pressure cracks and sands and just keeps moving. 8,000 PSI is extremely dangerous and represents a high-pressure environment that can cause catastrophic well blowouts, equipment failure, and fatal injuries if not controlled by properly rated blowout preventers (BOPs) and wellheads. 

At over 8,000 feet, an oil well experiences normal hydrostatic pressure and rock and soil weight (lithostatic/overburden pressure) which reaches up to 8,365 psi. In California old and abandoned oil and gas wells drilled down deep to 4,000 and 8,000 feet can leak hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), a colorless, highly toxic gas that smells like rotten eggs at low concentrations. Exposure to high levels of concentrations can paralyze the respiratory system and cause rapid death.

NOTE* Newport Beach CA had a 1920's oil well that was deemed a dry hole and plugged & capped (P&A) in 1924 and marked safe but wasn't a hundred years later in Dec 2025. This incident involved a 'DH' a dry hole oil well drilled 800 feet in 1924 deemed no good, plugged & capped (P&A), that leaked oil 100 years later in 2025, WTH?  

ABC 7 Eyewitness News, NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- A gas and oil leak from an abandoned oil well in the middle of a Newport Beach neighborhood has forced the city to declare a local emergency and has put the homes in the center of it all at risk of being torn down after toxic crude oil and explosive methane gas began leaking into homes. Emergency construction workers will continue working around the clock for the next nine days to repair the significant oil leak coming from the so-called "orphan" oil well. The abandoned, private oil well dates back to the 1920's and is about 800 feet underneath a family's home. The city says the well was drilled in 1924 and plugged & capped (P&A) just five years later after the oil wasn't viable, a dry hole DH.

Click on the image above for location of abandoned oil wells in California. Ladera Ranch CA was founded in 1998-1999 on one singular ideal to create a community that enables residents to give their families and children roots and wings focused on small-town safety. Marketed as a 4,000-acre master-planned community. 

The master-planned community broke ground in August 1999. DMB Ladera LLC was the master developer of Ladera Ranch CA from 1998 to 2005. Print and billboard ads highlighted the founding vision of a safe hometown where families build lasting connections. Promotional campaigns and marketing for the grand opening of the unfinished Ladera Ranch, California, in July 1999 focused on small-town charm, distinct village concepts, and roots for families. 

Master developer Rancho Mission Viejo LLC and DMB Ladera, L.L.C launched introductory print ads and promotional collateral featuring initial phase homebuilders and neighborhood designs. The 1999 advertising and marketing campaign for the debut of Ladera Ranch, California, was orchestrated by the real estate marketing firm Hayes Martin Associates. 

Launched in July 1999 by master developer Rancho Mission Viejo LLC, the promotional ads focused heavily on small-town Americana charm, a safe place, family roots, and a unique master-planned infrastructure. The members of DMB Ladera, L.L.C. are DMB Consolidated Holdings, L.L.C. an Arizona limited liability company and Ladera Development Company, L.L.C. a Delaware limited liability company.

Click on the image above for location of abandoned oil wells in California. Old Failed Oil Well Plugs Are Silent Polluters That No One Watches! Orange County CA is dotted with abandoned oil & gas wells plugged & capped (P&A), many of which were plugged long ago in the 1920's and 1960's to prevent the wells from polluting the air and water, but did they hold 100 years after? 

Oil Wells not expected to produce fossil fuels again are plugged with cement poured deep underground to ensure no gas or fluids can escape. But cement is no match for earthquakes, heat, and time, like from the 1920's. You have tectonic stresses, high temperatures—things are changing and shifting in the subsurface like in Orange County CA with frequent earthquakes of all magnitudes. 
Click on the image above for location of abandoned oil wells in California. Recent research data shared by the Orthopaedic Research Society indicates that other related hydrocarbons—such as xylene, toluene, and ethylbenzene—showed stronger statistical associations with Ewing sarcoma. What causes Ewing sarcoma chromosomal mutation in children. Ewing sarcoma is caused by a random, non-inherited chromosomal change after birth, specifically a chromosomal translocation that most often swaps pieces between chromosomes 11 and 22, though why this happens remains unknown, but check into what crude oil emissions due to the human body.

ABC Local 7 reported; Residents of Orange County's Ladera Ranch spoke out Tuesday night at a town hall meeting about cancer cluster in their town. Several people shared their stories about their family members and pets suffering from cancer. After the town hall, one woman told ABC7 that her therapy dog now has cancer. Dogs can face cancer risks from certain aromatic hydrocarbons, like ingested from tainted water.

The Scientific Connection; A comprehensive, population-based study published in early 2026 by the Childhood Cancer and Leukemia International Consortium (CLIC) analyzed decades of California health data. The peer-reviewed findings revealed critical insights. Elevated Risk: Children whose mothers lived within 10 kilometers of abandoned wells during pregnancy were 1.27 times more likely to develop Ewing sarcoma compared to unexposed children. 

In 1993, legal clerk Erin Brockovich began an investigation into the health impacts of the contamination of the Hinkley CA water. A class-action lawsuit about the contamination was settled on July 2, 1996 for $333 million she became famous for uncovering the toxic contamination of Hinkley, California’s groundwater by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). 

In 1996, her investigation helped over 600 residents secure a landmark $333 million settlement against the utility company for poisoning the town's drinking water with hexavalent chromium (chromium-6). If you drink water containing hexavalent chromium your stomach acid naturally works to convert toxic hexavalent chromium into trivalent chromium, which is a safer, non-carcinogenic form. However, if you drink water with high contamination levels, the chemical overpowers your stomach's natural defenses. The remaining hexavalent chromium penetrates the cells of your digestive tract, causing DNA damage and chromosomal mutations that lead to cancer. 
California water districts use chloramines instead of free chlorine during petroleum risk scenarios because chloramines have lower chemical reactivity. This suppresses the rapid, aggressive halogenation of petroleum hydrocarbons that would otherwise create spiked levels of carcinogenic disinfection byproducts (DBPs). When raw petroleum crude oil or jet fuel directly contaminates groundwater wells, the unrefined hydrocarbons act as highly reactive organic precursors. 

Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD) uses chloramines as a drinking water disinfectant in the distribution system for communities like Ladera Ranch CA. The Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD) is a public government agency operating as a special district in California under the California Water Code. As a distinct political and legal entity, it functions independently of city and county governments to provide specialized public utility services. There are 100 year old Oil & Gas wells plugged & capped (P&A) under Ladera Ranch CA.

In the 2024 water report from Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD) they state, organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, that are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, agricultural application, and septic systems will/could be in the SMWD drinking water, they uses chloramines to neutralize the petroleum by products. 

Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The Crude Oil Blindspot: Water-soluble components of crude oil—such as toxic BTEX compounds (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Xylenes)—dissolve completely in water. Because they do not form suspended droplets, they can remain highly concentrated in water that appears completely clear and yields a low NTU reading. There are 100 year old Oil & Gas wells plugged & capped (P&A) under Ladera Ranch CA.

See this video above for the proper way to plug a deep drilled abandoned well. The drillers for DMB Ladera LLC did not follow this correct procedure, they did not re-plugged all the way to the bottom and at intervals up to the surface of the old Exxon oil well under Poets Park at Ladera Ranch CA, this well oil well is at risk. DMB Ladera drillers only plugged the 8,365 ft deep Exxon oil well at 351 feet to the surface, way, way short in July 2001!

* Note media at LA Times Clara Harter and Zain Khan at California Post, a dry well (DH) is not a well void of all contents you can't take a flashlight and look down the 8,000 foot dry hole and see the bottom, OMG. A "dry hole" (DH) in California—including in 1961 like the one under Poets Park—does not mean absolutely nothing was, "do a little research and prep work before you publish your conclusions". In the oil and gas industry, a "dry hole" is a strict economic and regulatory term, not a literal description of an empty borehole. The California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM, formerly DOGGR) classifies a well as a dry hole (DH) if it is incapable of producing oil or gas in sufficient quantities to justify commercial completion, they still leak.

Sarasota Private Investigator Bill Warner, True Crime Stories, Bill Warner Investigations Sarasota Fl.