Starting in March, offshore oil companies operating along the California coast must report any release into the ocean of materials used for hydraulic fracturing, the controversial resource-extraction procedure colloquially known as “fracking” that has caused concern across the country.
This new requirement was announced by the Environmental Protection Agency last week, a couple months after investigations by TruthOut.org and the Associated Press revealed that the practice had been used sporadically by the rigs in the Santa Barbara Channel, despite no special review to do so.
Though calling it a step in the right direction, environmental groups, such as the Center for Biological Diversity and Santa Barbara’s Environmental Defense Center — which also issued its own extensive report on offshore fracking last year — are continuing their call that the practice be banned outright until further review.
Carpinteria-based Venoco Inc. was one of the companies that had fracked offshore, employing the technique from December 2009 to January 2010 via Platform Gail, but the company does not foresee this new rule affecting them. “Venoco isn’t currently using hydraulic fracturing technology in the offshore area and we don’t have plans for it in the future,” said Venoco spokesperson Lisa Rivas in an email. “We did not see the results we expected, so we did not continue.”
In related news, environmental groups delivered nearly 100,000 public comments to the California’s Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources on Tuesday, opposing the state’s newly proposed rules for regulating fracking onshore; a protest was also held in Santa Maria to mark that opposition. And next month in Pismo Beach, the California Coastal Commission will hear a report from its staff on what options it has on the table fo regulating the practice, which has occurred so far only in federal waters.
Comments
What I am interested in is how the oil companies are going to reconcile their claim that producing from the deep formations is going to reduce seepage from the shallow formations with the claim that fracking is going to increase production from the deep formations and not increase seepage from the shallow formations. If the two formations are connected then it would follow that fracking the deep formations would increase seepage from the shallow ones. Our maybe the two formations are not connected at all and never were. They don't get it both ways. In any case, more reporting is always better. The more we know about what is going on other there, the better.
Eckermann (anonymous profile)
January 16, 2014 at 9:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yes - ban fracking until further review. Of course this makes perfect sense.
Especially since fracking itself has not created a *single* instance of polluting the onshore water tables and is creating evil things like: profits, economic activity and jobs for millions of working class citizens while shifting our reliance on foreign oil downward.
Yes - let's march against fracking while our beloved Obama has ramped up extra-judicial drone killings to a rate that is now 80x that of Bush's peak. After all Obama is pro-choice and supports every woman's right to kill her unborn fetus for any reason whatever so that she can be empowered socio-economically. So march against America. March now.
While we're on the topic of lib-dem insanity >> why is contraception covered by Obamacare? Since when did a normal body function (ovulation) suddenly become a malady or health problem? If you believe that it is, fine, but don't make me pay for your choice to interrupt a normal body function so you can "do it" with someone else and be more relaxed about it.
realitycheck88 (anonymous profile)
January 17, 2014 at 8:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Eckerman: fracking isn't used for liquid oil, it's used to harvest gas.
Realitycheck88: paying for condoms not only helps prevent unplanned pregnancies, it should help reduce the spread of venereal disases and HIV.
I can understand not being excited about paying for other people's carnal pleasures, but there should be a positive impact. And hey, make love not war ;)
Ken_Volok (anonymous profile)
January 17, 2014 at 9:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
With all due respect Ken, fracking in the Monterey Formation is to increase oil output not gas. Our local petroleum production companies are after liquids not gas. In fact, they find the gas to be a nuisance (it has too much sulfur, the Btu content is either too low or too high, and it requires expensive processing before the Gas Company will take possession of it). The local oil companies would be just as happy to release all their produced gas, unburned, into the atmosphere (which they are not allowed to do). Their next preferred disposal method is to simply burn the gas in a flare. They will use some of the produced gas to fuel equipment in the field and processing plants (but using it as fuel requires cleaning, drying, and processing, which is expensive and annoying to them.) Their final, and least favorite, option is to clean it up to pipeline standards and sell it to the Gas Company (at a huge loss). Considering all these facts, it is hard for me to agree with your comment about fracking being done to produce gas on the Central Coast. This may be true in other areas, but not here.
Eckermann (anonymous profile)
January 18, 2014 at 6:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Reality is insanity in the world today. Just check #88. Cukoo.
spacey (anonymous profile)
January 19, 2014 at 11:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, I do love those 'millions' of fracking jobs since all my friends and family collect a pay check from the oil industry now, money's all that matters.... and a bunch of guns.
spacey (anonymous profile)
January 19, 2014 at 11:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Exxon CEO Joins Anti-Fracking Lawsuit After Drilling Threatens His Property Value
Feb. 22, 2014 Alternet
http://www.alternet.org/environment/e...
14noscams (anonymous profile)
February 23, 2014 at 7:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)