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Cleita

(75,480 posts)
Sun Feb 23, 2014, 08:47 PM Feb 2014

Fracking err Well Stimulation in California, past and present. California Coastal Commission meeting

THE PROBLEM.

Fracking or well stimulation as it is euphemistically called has been going on for twenty years on oil platforms in the Santa Barbara ocean area. Various environmental agencies have been able to obtain from the Freedom of Information act that fracking has occurred 15 times in twenty years on oil platforms in water that is in Federal waters and out of jurisdiction of the State.

This link leads to a pdf file of documents concerning this:
http://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2014/2/W7a-2-2014.pdf

There are documents from environmental agencies, scientific organizations and the petroleum interests as well as concerned citizens. The bold sentences are mine.

The following excerpt from a joint document from Surfrider Foundation, Environmental Defense Center, California Coastal Protection Network, Citizens For Responsible Oil & Gas, Wildcoast Costasalvaje kind of sums up the concerns.

LIFT THE FOG ON OCEAN FRACKING

In July 2013, via Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests, it was discovered fracking and "frac packing'1 has occurred at least 15 times in federal waters offshore California for 20 years. The limited information available indicates some fracking fluids were directly discharged into the ocean in proximity to the Channel Islands National
Marine Sanctuary and state Marine Protected Areas. It was also confirmed fracking
occurred from platforms with a history of spills.
Within a few weeks of discovering fracking was occurring in federal waters, information obtained from a voluntary industry site FracFocus.org revealed that 15 wells have been stimulated using a "frac pack" in state waters near Long Beach. A recent investigation by the Associated Press concluded that oil companies used "frac packs" at least 203 times at six sites in the past two decades

As these well stimulation practices were uncovered, it became abundantly clear that
both state and federal agencies were uninformed about fracking and "frac packs". Because
several agencies were unaware of the extent or potential impacts of these well stimulation
activities, questions have arisen about the best way to regulate offshore well stimulation
and who is responsible for permitting fracking and "frac packs."

The California Coastal Commission (CCC) is in a unique position to help influence how
permitting and monitoring of fracking and other well stimulation techniques should take
place on land within the coastal zone and in state and federal waters. Below are some
recommendations that may clarify the CCC's jurisdictional authority.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The following recommendations can be broken down into three categories:

A. General recommendations applying to the overall situation of "well stimulation" in
California coastal waters.
B. Recommendations specifically geared toward state jurisdiction.
C. Recommendations applying to jurisdiction in federal waters
More at above link.

I’m putting the letter from the Senators here in it’s entirety as it pretty well summarizes the issue as our legislators see it. Since it’s on the public record and not a published document subject to copyright rules, I’m posting the entire letter.

CALIFORNIA'LEGISLATURE
August 8, 2013

Mary Shallenberger, Chair
California Coastal Commission
45 Fremont Street, Suite 2000
San Francisco, CA 94105-2219

Dear Chair Shallenberger and Commissioners:

It has recently come to our attention that hydraulic fracturing is taking place off of the California coast, and in particular, off Santa Barbara County's pristine coastline. This revelation is cause for great concern 'to the people of California and the residents of Santa Barbara County who have a long and active history as a state and region of opposing off-shore oil drilling along our magnificent coast.

While most of the original oil and gas extraction applications were reviewed by the Coastal
Commission within the appropriate state and federal guidelines, hydraulic fracturing chemical
composition; drilling and extraction techniques have changed dramatically over the last decade
ai1d there should be little dispute that hydraulic fracturing constitutes a change in the "type and
intensity" of land use. These new technologies and chemical compounds differ greatly from the
process and materials that were originally authorized for oil and gas extraction.

The federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) gives the Coastal Commission the authority
to review all federal activities and federally licensed, permitted or assisted activities if the
activity has the potential to affect coastal resources. If the Coastal Commission finds that there
could be a negative impact on our coast, it has the authority to assert its jurisdiction and
potentially prevent the federal agency from issuing the consistency pennit.

Hydraulic fracturing has been done onshore for decades and yet many unanswered questions still
remain. There is even.greater uncertainty surrounding the impacts of offshore hydraulic
fracturing. It is essential that the impacts of offshore hydraulic fracturing be fully analyzed to
understand its effects on water quality, beach access, wetlands, land and sea wildlife, scenic
vistas, and coastal tourism.

Given what we know about the proven and potential impacts of fracking fluids, we believe there
is cause to conclude that fracking constitutes a change in type and intensity of use that should
trigger permit review in state waters, and federal consistency review in federal waters. years on oil platforms in the ocean off shore of Santa Barbara county.

As legislators of coastal districts, we respectfully request that the Coastal Conunission exercise
its authority to re-evaluate the previously approved permits for consistency, review all of the
potential impacts, including human health and safety, marine life and water quality, and exercise
its existing jurisdiction to review all future offshore applications and/or activities involving
hydraulic fracturing,

We will be seeking full disclosure from the federal government, as well, and look forward to
working with the Coastal Commission, other relevant agencies, and federally elected officials to
gain a completely open and transparent explanation of offshore hydraulic fracturing.
We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience with how you are·planning to
address the issues and concerns expressed in this correspondence.

Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, SD 19
Senator Noreen Evans, SD2

Cc: California Coastal Commissioners
Charles Lester, Coastal Commission Executive Director
Senator Dianne Feinstein
Senator Barbara Boxer
Congresswoman Lois Capps
Congresswoman Julia Brownley
HBJ:mm


THE DANGERS.
It uses a lot of water.
It pollutes water with a variety of noxious chemicals.
In a state starved for water and that goes through periodical droughts it would poison water needed for agriculture making it unsuitable for such use
In an area with a variety of earthquake faults there is increasing evidence that it causes earthquakes.
In an area prone to earthquakes, we have an active nuclear plant, El Diablo, only built to withstand a magnitude 7.5 earthquake on the Richter scale. We have the San Andreas and Los Osos faults near by and the recently discovered Hosgri fault running underneath it. The Fukushima quake was 7.2 and enough to create the tsunami that caused the breakdown of the plant.
Rachel Maddow has reported on an alarming increase in earthquakes in Oklahoma ever since fracking began.
?itok=YQXQxqgt

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/fracking-caused-quakes-oklahoma Look at the graph showing the increased frequency of the quakes. When one of the wells was closed down the earthquakes stopped in that area. Coincidence?
The California Coastal Commission website has a ton of information on the issue. It's badly organized, which is why it took me so long to ferret out at least a little skeleton of information. However, I suggest you go there and familiarize yourself with what our leaders are doing. Some are doing very well and work hard. The rest of us need to start getting their back on this issue.

http://www.coastal.ca.gov/

This is the power point presentation you need to look at:

http://www.coastal.ca.gov/pdf/W7a-2-2014_Fracking%20Briefing.pdf

I'm hoping fellow DUer Piedras weighs in. He was at the meeting too and he took notes so I hope he adds his insight.

I'm also cross posting this in the California Group.


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Fracking err Well Stimulation in California, past and present. California Coastal Commission meeting (Original Post) Cleita Feb 2014 OP
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