Ventana Chapter - Conservation Issues

Old Baldy, Canada | photo by Cameron Schaus

Conservation Issues of the Ventana Chapter | monterey county

Sierra Club and Other Groups File Lawsuit against California Oil Regulators

December, 2015

Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity and the Association of Irritated Residents sued the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) last month for issuing an enormous number of new drilling permits in Kern County without analyzing risk to air quality, water supplies and public health as required under California law. The suit filed by Earthjustice, states in its opening brief: "The California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources ("DOGGR") has consistently failed to live up to its obligations pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"), by permitting oil drilling projects in the South Belridge Oil Field without any kind of environmental review. This permitting is occurring as if CEQA never became law in 1970."

DOGGR has issued at least 214 permits since July 2014 to Aera Energy to drill new oil and gas wells in the South Belridge Oil Field in Kern County. Fracking techniques will be used on a majority of these wells. DOGGR regularly fails to conduct legally required reviews for oil and gas drilling projects in Kern County, the lawsuit explains.

Aera Energy intends to frack at least 144 of the newly permitted wells, which requires tapping already strained water resources. Steam injection and water flooding techniques may also be used on other newly permitted wells. With water supplies already depleted by the ongoing drought, the lawsuit notes that DOGGR erred by not studying whether the local water supply could sustainably provide water for well drilling and water-intensive extraction practices like fracking and steam injection. (Source: Earthjustice).

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