MEDIA CORRECTION; The abandoned oil well near Poets Park Ladera Ranch CA is NOT located under anyone's house as Clara Harter LA Times reported Aug 30

MEDIA CORRECTION: The decades old abandoned oil well under/near Poets Park in Ladera Ranch CA is NOT located under anyone's house as reporter Clara Harter LA Times reported Aug 30, 2026, it is under the street Merriweather Pl at Poets Park close to where a manhole cover is located marked SEWER.  

Cross streets location for the abandoned oil well underground are Merriweather PL/Agapanthus St in Ladera Ranch CA. Note, LA Times reporter Clara Harter it is not a good idea to falsely list the home owners address on Agapanthus Street as the exact location for an abandoned oil well from 1961 as being under their house, this is libelous and could affect the value of the house. 

Discovering an abandoned, underground oil well on a property listed for sale, or the fact the LA Times publishes a Front Page article listing the home address and says there is an abandoned oil well there, creates significant legal, financial, and environmental liabilities. Developer DMB Ladera LLC knew about the abandoned well under Merriweather Pl at Poets Park, if they failed to disclose it, they can be sued for fraudulent concealment, misrepresentation, or breach of contract. Most states mandate the disclosure of material defects—including buried hazards, oil wells, toxic contamination, or defunct industrial equipment.

LADERA RANCH OIL WELLS; I SENT NEWS TIP TO LA TIMES on Saturday Aug 29th, 2026 at 2:34 PST.  

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Bill Warner <wbipi@verizon.net>
To: tips@latimes.com <tips@latimes.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2026 at 02:34:07 PM PST
Subject: Ladera Ranch - cancer - oil wells underground

FROM: Bill Warner
Bill Warner Investigations
Sarasota Fl
941-926-1926
site https://www.billwarnerpi.com/

I am a private investigator in Florida, I was asked by a client to look into the Ewing Sarcoma cancer cluster in Ladera Ranch and possible causes. California Dept of Conservation Division of Oil & Gas Wells records reveals two old oil wells, one from the 1920's and one from the the 1960's underground at Ladera Ranch CA that were not properly re-plugged and re-capped in July 2001, there is a lot more. DMB Ladera LLC the developer was aware of the old oil wells in July 2001 during the installation of the infrastructure the electrical field, drinking water pipes and sewer pipes they did a re-abandonment that incurred plugging problems of the old oil & gas wells but continued on with the $100 million dollar project, never making the two oil wells under Ladera Ranch Ca public, it has been a secret for 25 years. https://www.billwarnerpi.com/2026/07/ladera-ranch-ca-built-on-top-of-2.html

Aug 30, 2026 LA TIMES NEWS TIP RECEIVED; Less that 24 hours later on Sunday afternoon August 30th, 2026 the LA Times ran their Exclusive on the oil wells located under Ladera Ranch CA with possible links to ongoing problems. The LA Times article authored by reporter Clara Halter made no mention of my tip on the oil wells, and prior to August 30, 2206 the only publication concerning the oil wells under Ladera Ranch was mine from July 25, 2026,
https://www.billwarnerpi.com/2026/07/ladera-ranch-ca-built-on-top-of-2.html

Reporters at LA Times Clara Harter and CA-Post Zain Khan use priority independent investigative work of private detective, me, as their own, uncredited in breaking national news story about oil wells and cancer in Ladera Ranch CA on Sunday August 30th, 2026 that was first published by me on July 25, 2026. The LA Times and CA-Post reporters used the exact wording, phrases and location of the oil wells directly from my publication and in most cases without even changing up things!

"Assuming the assumptions, and given the givens", a reasonably intelligent person would surmise that the LA Times used my priority investigation work and research on the decades old oil wells located under Ladera Ranch Ca without attribution for their Front Page article on Sunday Aug 30th 2026 after sending them the News Tip Saturday Aug 29th. I have/had put an immense amount of time, energy, and meticulous effort into researching the historical oil wells beneath Ladera Ranch, California and the problems re-capping them in July 2001. To see a major publication like the Los Angeles Times publish a front-page story on that exact topic on Sunday, August 30, 2026—featuring deep-dive details like the unearthing of old state records—without giving me shred of credit, feels incredibly frustrating and invalidating and prone for me to claim Plagiarism!

The exact location off all abandoned oil wells in California is found in Cal-GEM 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 (Meriweather PL) by the sewer manhole cover, it is under the street and not under anyone's house like what Clara Harter at the LA Times published on Aug 30th, 2026, click on numbers for map.

* 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 8,365 foot dry hole and see the bottom, OMG. A "dry hole" (DH) in California—including the one drilled down 8,365 feet in 1961 under/near Poets Park—does not mean absolutely nothing was found, "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 oil.

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. 

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