DMB Ladera Violated CA State Law Title 14 Sec 1723 Short Plug Oil Well Under Poets Park in July 2001 Used Old Depth Numbers From Jan 1962, CalGEM OK'd

*NOTE FAKE REPORT; The re-abandonment done in July 2001 by DMB Ladera LLC, (during initial construction of Ladera Ranch), of the deep drilled down 8,365 foot Exxon-Mobil oil & gas well near/under Poet's Park used the old cement plugging figures of 1305' and 593' from the original Jan 1962 abandonment of the well on the July 2001 report. DMB Ladera Violated CA State Law Title 14 Sec 1723 by short plugging the Exxon-Mobil oil well under Poets Park in July 2001!

In July 2001 the drillers could not get past some hard material blockage at 351' at the old Exxon-Mobil oil & gas well near/under Poets Park. DMB Ladera LLC 'fixer' Thomas Walker supervised this falsification of records on July 19, 2001, as he and everyone else at the job site that morning had no idea if the cement plugs at 1305 feet and 593 feet were still there as the drillers could not get passed 351 feet due the most likely steel casing collapse into the drilling hole. WELL-FINDER

Under the California Code of Regulations (CCR) Title 14, Section 1723, specific mandates dictate how operators must handle obstructions or "junk" during well plugging and abandonment operations managed by CalGEM. If an obstruction or "junk" is lodged in the wellbore and cannot be removed after diligent efforts. Down-Squeezing Required: If the unrecoverable junk prevents normal plugging across freshwater/saltwater interfaces or oil/gas zones, operators are required to down-squeeze cement through or past the obstruction under pressure, this could cost up to $400,000 for each old oil well, it was not done in Ladera Ranch CA.

OK, here you go LA Times and CA-Post reporters, your show prep and detailed investigative research into the problems at Ladera Ranch are updated and ready for your next "exclusive"!

A single surface-level plug at 351 feet at Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA leaves the bottom 8,000+ feet completely open, allowing deep hydrocarbons, pressurized gases, and toxic brine to travel upward and escape laterally. California State guidelines specify that when an obstruction is encountered, it must be cleared, clean-drilled, or "fished out" so the underlying intervals can be cemented and 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. CalGEM typically recommends that structures or paved roads not be placed over sealed wells and that construction not impede access to abandoned wells, good luck with that in Ladera Ranch. 

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 and already had cost $180,000 to do the re-abandonment. Now DMB Ladera LLC was looking at up to 3 weeks delay and at additional costs of up to $400,000 more per well and a PR nightmare if the media (LA Times) got wind of the job shut down due to 2 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. 

CNN claims in a recent report on Sept 20, 2026 that the air quality above-ground was tested on Aug 31, 2026 near Poets Park or/on Citrus Lane by CalGEM but dangerous gases like Benzene and Hydrogen Sulfide (𝐇𝟐𝐒) gas are heavier than air and if they leaked into the sewer system, as the old 1961 oil & gas well is 8,365 feet under the sewer system, in the ground with a paved road above, that is where you need to do any testing for leaks or emissions in the sewer system, not sitting in the Gazebo at Poets Park. CalGEM is the same group that OK'd the short plugging and capping of the old Exxon Mobil oil well near/under Poets Park over the phone, site unseen, back in July 2001 violating CA State Law Title 14 Sec 1723.

CalGEM stands for the California Geologic Energy Management Division, which was formerly known as DOGGR (Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources). DOGGR was officially renamed CalGEM on January 1, 2020, following state legislative updates. It regulates the drilling, operation, maintenance, and permanent plugging and abandonment of oil, natural gas, and geothermal wells in California.

Approximate min cost per well to re-plug and re-cap an old oil & gas well is about $180,000. The home office for DOGGR (CalGEM)—which was officially renamed the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM)—is located in downtown Sacramento. 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 (CalGEM) 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 (CalGEM) 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.  

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. 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, 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.

Ladera Ranch Drinking Water Stored Underground in Concrete Tanks at Mission Hills Park 29361 Bell Pasture Rd Ladera Ranch, CA, nearby (less than a mile underground) at Citrus Lane a 105 year old Union oil & gas well could be leaking horizontally into foundations. When and if the 105 year old and 64 year old oil & gas wells at Citrus Lane and Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA start leaking, fluids and gases typically migrate both vertically up the compromised wellbore and horizontally, lateral side to side, into surrounding soil, rock layers and into concrete foundations of nearby structures. Degraded steel casing and crumbling historic cement plugs allow benzene, methane gas and H2S gas and liquids to travel straight up the old pipe path and horizontally. 

If the steel casings of the decades old 1920's and 1960's deep drilled oil 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. 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 releasing Benzene can cause significant human health problems. 

VIDEO; Tom Walker an independent petroleum consultant and senior reservoir engineer in California was hired and working as the rep (fixer) for DMB Ladera LLC, he was overseeing the re-abandonment project on July 19, 2001, he was there with Paul Frost from DOGGR (CalGEM). The bosses at DMB Ladera LLC were paying Tom Walker (fixer) to get this sticky oil problem problem at Poets Park taken care of! A series of reports were issued by Tom Walker targeting data, graphics, or language meant to overwhelm you, even if the person was only mistaken rather than lying on purpose. There is no possible way for anyone at the Poets Park job site on Thursday morn July 19, 2001 to have any idea if the old cement plugs from 1961 at 1305' and 593' were still there in place, or if the steel casing itself was still in place, or if crude oil and H₂S gas hydrogen sulfide, a colorless, highly toxic, and flammable gas were leaking latterly from 8365' up to the only new plug at 351', whole lotta ifs here for them to just walk away and file papers.

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.

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, Thomas Walker was there with DOGGR (CalGEM) rep/engineer Paul Frost. A DOGGR (CalGEM) 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 (CalGEM) at Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA. 

The oil well near/under Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA was originally deep drilled down to 8,365 feet in 1961, about 1.5 miles, plugged and capped in January 1962. The plugging and capping of the Exxon oil well in 1962 was done at 1305' and 593' and within 50 feet of the surface to the top, the steel drilling casing was filled with mud/concrete and sealed. The 1962 figures of 1305' and 593' for plugging with cement of the Exxon oil well were reused in the DMB Ladera LLC report for the re-abandonment in July 2001 to the California Division of Oil & Gas, WTH?

DMB Ladera LLC Appears to Have Violated California State Law Title 14 Sec 1723 by Short Plugging the Deep Drilled Exxon Oil Well at Poets Park on July 19, 2001. The Exxon Mobil oil well that I discovered during research of the project back in July 2026, located under/near Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA, was not properly re-plugged on July 2001 during DMB Ladera LLC construction of the $100 million dollar project. Under California Code of Regulations Title 14, Section 1723, an operator must place distinct cement barriers to prevent the migration of fluids and gases from the bottom of the well then cement barriers at intervals to the surface and cap. (14 CCR § 1723)

The old deep drilled Exxon Mobil oil well under/near what became Poets Park Ladera Ranch was short filled at 351 feet during re-abandonment on July 19, 2001 due to blockage at 351 feet, DOGGR (CalGEM) directive required cement to be squeezed past the blockage on outside of casing down to bottom of oil well to protect the lower 8,365 feet, reports indicates they did not do this! Drillers hired by DMB Ladera LLC during the re-abondment of the 1961 Exxon Mobil oil well underground near Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA were not able to get down past 351 feet due to an hard obstruction (possible steel casing collapse). But drillers got an OK from DOGGR home office via a phone call at 10:30 am from the job site and filled/plugged the Exxon Mobil oil well casing from 351 feet up to the surface, is this a problem? 

Yes, this is a major environmental and regulatory concern. While the drillers obtained a procedural variance from the agency (formerly DOGGR, now known as CalGEM), leaving 8,013 feet of unplugged wellbore below a shallow 351-foot surface plug creates a direct conduit for subterranean fluid migration. When a 1961 well is drilled to 8,365 feet, it passes through multiple geological layers. Steel casing from 1961 is prone to corrosion. When the deep un-cemented pipe eventually degrades, fluids will escape horizontally into the surrounding earth, bypassing the surface plug entirely, WTH? (14 CCR § 1723)

CalGEM typically recommends that structures not be placed over sealed wells and that construction not impede access to abandoned wells, good luck with that in Ladera Ranch. 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/under Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA is at 33°32'44.1"N 117°38'10.3"W, it is under Merriweather PL by the sewer manhole cover. 

MEDIA CORRECTION: The abandoned oil well near/under Poets Park in Ladera Ranch CA is NOT located under anyone's house as LA Times published on Aug 30, 2026, it is under the street (Merriwether Pl). 

Note to LA Times reporter Clara Harter it is not a good idea to falsely list the home owners address # as the exact location for an old abandoned oil well deep drilled in 1961, being under their house, this is libelous and could affect the value of the house. 

 LA Times and reporter Clara Harter, "The Misidentification": Public records and community corrections note that a LA Times front page article of Sunday Aug 30th, 2026 mistakenly localized an old, abandoned Exxon/Mobil oil well directly under a specific residential home on Agapanthus Street in Ladera Ranch CA. The Reality: Local media corrections and fact-checks confirmed this information is false. The abandoned well is actually located near Poets Park in Ladera Ranch and is not located underneath any private residential house. 

Are their notations on the Title's of Ladera Ranch home owners that they are in the vicinity of an old (1961) Exxon Mobil oil well for those who live near Poets Park at 33°32'44.1"N 117°38'10.3"W.

CalGEM formerly DOGGR makes the following additional recommendations to the local permitting agency, property owner, and developer (DMB Ladera LLC):

1. To ensure that present and future property owners are aware of (a) the existence of all wells located on the property, and (b) potentially significant issues associated with any improvements near oil or gas wells, CalGEM recommends that information regarding the below identified well(s), and any other pertinent information obtained after the issuance of this letter, be communicated to the appropriate county recorder for inclusion in the title information of the subject real property.

2. CalGEM recommends that any soil containing hydrocarbons be disposed of in accordance with local, state, and federal laws. Please notify the appropriate authorities if soil containing significant amounts of hydrocarbons is discovered during development. DMB Ladera LLC kept their dirty little secret covered up for 25 years of the poorly re-capped oil wells, until now.

At a true vertical depth of 8,365 feet the oil well at Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA 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) pushing upwards. Drilling Mud/Abandonment Fluid (10.0 ppg). (14 CCR § 1723)

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 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.

The Exxon Mobil oil well near/under Poets Park in Ladera Ranch CA was drilled down 8,365 feet in 1961 and capped in 1962, but during the July 2001 re-abandonment by DMB Ladera LLC only 351 feet was filled with mud and re-capped to the surface, way short of CalGEM regualtions. 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. (14 CCR § 1723)

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! (14 CCR § 1723)

VIDEO; Re-abandonment of an oil well is the process of re-entering a previously plugged and abandoned wellbore to repair, it is dirty, messy and very noisy work, takes about a week to do one, like the ones mentioned in Ladera Ranch drilled there in 1921 and 1961, to 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 about $180,000. (14 CCR § 1723)

* 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 the one near/under Poets Park—does not mean absolutely nothing was found, quite the contrary, "do a little research and prep work before you publish your conclusions morons". 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, BUT they still leak. 

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 sidewalk was deep drilled to 4,350 feet 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.

UPDATE 10/10/2026: Investigation Citrus Lane oil well Ladera Ranch CA August 31st, 2026. The California Department of Conservation’s (DOC) Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) conducted a review of a historic well (the O’Neill well) on Citrus Lane in Ladera Ranch deep drilled to 4,350 feet. CalGEM’s review found no concerns and found that the level of risk is no different than that of similar wells that have been capped. ​​The exploratory O’Neill well was drilled in the Ladera Ranch area of southern Orange County in 1920 to a depth of . It was abandoned (filled and capped) in 1921 after no oil formations were found and the potential for gas was reported as small and “non-producible.” 

​​​​​​​In 2002, DMB Ladera re-abandoned and sealed the Citrus Lane well during the development of the Ladera Ranch neighborhood. A test of the Citrus Lane well found no leaks. CalGEM issued a Final Letter of Abandonment dated March 24, 2003, but work was stopped when the drilling crew hit cement at 100 feet down, why? CalGEM recently reviewed the well file and found that the re-abandonment work was stopped when it hit cement 100 feet down. Because the presence of cement in the well was not documented in the well file, the 2003 Final Letter will be rescinded and replaced shortly. This does not reflect a change in risk level for the well, ​which is no different than similar wells that have been capped. 

Under the California Code of Regulations (CCR) Title 14, Section 1723, specific mandates dictate how operators must handle obstructions or "junk" during well plugging and abandonment operations managed by CalGEM. If an obstruction or "junk" is lodged in the wellbore and cannot be removed after diligent efforts. Down-Squeezing Required: If the unrecoverable junk prevents normal plugging across freshwater/saltwater interfaces or oil/gas zones, operators are required to down-squeeze cement through or past the obstruction under pressure, this could cost up to $400,000 for each old oil well, it was not done in Ladera Ranch CA.

CalGEM conducted a field visit on August 31, 2026, same day LA Times reporter Clara Harter published my investigation of the oil wells under Ladera Ranch CA. The approximate location of the well is beneath the sidewalk, directly in front of a residential property on Citrus Lane Ladera Ranch CA. Optical gas imaging (OGI) leak detection, using a Forward Looking InfraRed (FLIR) camera was used to check the Citrus Lane well and surrounding location. No gas was observed using the FLIR camera.


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