Frickin' Frackin'....

[Darian]

An article in the Fresno Bee, 12/29, reports that an activist/farmer recorded on video an oil company dumping waste water from fracking into a surface pond on a neighbors property unknown to the company. The result was a $60,000.00 fine for the illegal dumping of waste water. Not much of a fine for a proven offense of this nature. Check it out at:

http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/12/28/3687815/shafter-farmer-helps-bring-focus.html

If you've been following the debate on fracking in CA in the news, gas/oil producers have been stating that there's not a single case where fracking is practiced that was shown to be unsafe. The case, above, is the second of this nature that I'm aware of in CA. The first, was done by Aera Energy in the Bakersfield area. In that case, Aera dumped the waste water (including chemicals) in a pond on the property owned by Starrh Farms. The waste water migrated into an aquifer underlying the Starrh property and this act became the basis for litigation. Starrh proved that the illegal dumping and pollution of the aquifer had occurred but lost. The court ruled that the aquifer wasn't used for drinking water as it already was polluted with naturally occurring salts. I haven't followed the matter further but to my knowledge, no fine was assessed for illegal dumping either.

Still think fracking is safe in this state?? Just in case you're saying that the fracking, itself, is safe but the dumping is not, think again. All fracking activities use and produce waste water and have to be safely disposed of. Seems to me that the gas/oil industry gave us an insight into their regard for the laws of this state.

[Alosa]

I can think of better ways to use water in California...:rolleyes:

[Darian]

Yep!!! Seems like the poorest of choices for usage of over committed, potable water resources. In Colorado, it's been reported that oil/gas producers have become major water users and routinely pay above $1,200.00 per acf for their water. That's a contract price from willing sellers as they, generally, have no water rights. I have no idea what oil/gas producers pay per ACF, here. But, it's essentially the same situation as Colorado. Gas/oil companies have to buy from a state water contractor. I'm sure that the expansion of fracking activities in CA are going to have an impact on the price they have to pay here.

[JasonB]

I'm still shaking my head in amazement at just how fast we have raced into this shady technology. You would think/hope that with all the potential ramifications that there might be a bit slower move towards utilizing fracking to provide us with continued cheap energy. I think the reality is that there is just way too much money flying around right now for anyone to really see straight...guess we'll pay the bill when the hangover starts to fade. Hope the damages are not too steep when that time comes.
JB

[Darian]

I'm not sure we're rushing into accepting this technology. It's reported that fracking has been used in CA to extract oil, etc., out of old wells for many years. Unfortunately, the activity is not regulated and that's only one of the issues.

What brought all of this to the surface was the discovery of gas/oil bearing shale deposits in very large quantities. Fracking this type of shale requires large quantities of water and chemicals to release the gas/oil, generating waste water that requires disposal. All of these activities carry a cost that some gas/oil producers don't appear to be willing to pay. The result is that the state is, supposedly, drafting regulations to address the situation due to increased activity. Like trying to round up horses after they've left the corral.

That leaves clean-up/decontamination costs up to taxpayers. All the while, there're no oil severance taxes assessed to pay for any of these required clean-up activities or provide revenue to state and local governments. CA is one of the only oil producing states in the nation that doesn't get some form of revenue from the production of gas/oil from wells in the state.

Some would say that's OK (witness the initiative to establish a severance tax that was voted down) but the other side of that coin is the only source of $$$ to pay for clean-up, etc., is the taxpayer (you/me). The alternative is to allow further degradation of the CA environment and water resources.