California
Related: About this forumCA Coastal Commission Hearing Wednesday Feb. 12 in Pismo Beach about secretly occurring fracking
The California Coastal Commission is meeting this coming Wednesday, 2/12, in Pismo Beach to discuss hydraulic fracturing, fracking, that has been discovered to have been secretly happening on our coast. I will attend the meeting to learn more and to express my strong opposition to hydraulic fracturing in our ocean on the California Central Coast.
Can anyone else from DU come too?
The Sierra Club sent this out:
After learning that hydraulic fracturing has been secretly occurring along California's coastline for years, the California Coastal Commission will announce the results of its investigation into this controversial and dangerous practice at a hearing this Wednesday. Ensure the commissioners know there is strong support to stop offshore fracking in California and protect the environment. Sign up to attend the hearing now.
Check it out here: http://action.sierraclub.org/...
Here are the details:
WHO: Friends, family, neighbors, activists, Sierra Club and you!
WHAT: Public hearing about fracking off of California's coasts
WHEN: Wednesday, February 12, at 9:00 a.m.
WHERE: The Cliffs Resort Hotel located at 2757 Shell Beach Road, Pismo Beach, CA 93449 [Map]
Questions: Contact Michael Thornton at michael.thornton@sierraclub.org
Congressperson Lois Capps, D Santa Barbara, recently wrote:
Washington - Today, Rep. Lois Capps (CA-24) sent a letter to U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy calling for a moratorium on offshore fracking activities in federal waters off the coast of California until a comprehensive study is conducted to determine the impacts of fracking activities on the marine environment and public health.
Requests under the Freedom of Information Act, along with media reports and an analysis from the Environmental Defense Center, revealed that Californias coastal waters had been fracked at least 15 times in the last 20 years. Capps has been pushing federal regulators for information on this issue for months and continues to monitor onshore and offshore fracking activities closely.
I have been seriously concerned about offshore fracking since recent reports first brought it to light, Capps said. While we still know little about the impacts of onshore fracking, we know even less about impacts of offshore fracking. The inadequate oversight of these activities is unacceptable, and offshore fracking should be halted until we better understand their impacts.
Capps also spoke out Tuesday against two oil drilling bills being considered on the House floor later this week.
The first, H.R. 2728, would prevent the Department of the Interior from enforcing any federal standards on hydraulic fracturing if a state has any rules or even unenforceable guidance governing fracking, no matter how weak or ineffective the state rules are. It would also interfere with the EPA's scientific study of the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources by modifying the design and scope of the study more than two years after it was finalized.
Capps proposed an amendment to H.R. 2728 that would have implemented the moratorium called for in her letter, but House leadership did not allow it to be brought to the House floor for consideration.
The second, H.R. 1965, makes drilling less safe by shortening the amount of time to review permit applications to drill onshore, rolls back leasing reforms, and requires a $5,000 fee to challenge a federal leasing decision. The bill irresponsibly expands drilling on public lands at the expense of public uses like hunting, fishing and recreation.
These bills are solutions in search of problems, Capps said. They tear down environmental protections and restrict public participation in an attempt to expand oil and gas production. But oil production on federal lands has gone up significantly since 2008, and federal regulations have not stopped states from implementing their own fracking rules. These bills are nothing more than reckless giveaways to big oil and gas companies that put American families and the environment at risk.
Capps is also supporting several pieces of legislation that would increase the transparency and safety of onshore fracking activities, including the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act (H.R. 1921), the Bringing Reductions to Energy's Airborne Toxic Health Effects (BREATHE) Act (H.R. 1154), the Focused Reduction of Effluence and Stormwater runoff through Hydrofracking Environmental Regulation (FRESHER) Act (H.R. 1175), and the Closing Loopholes and Ending Arbitrary and Needless Evasion of Regulations Act (CLEANER) Act (H.R. 2825). These measures close loopholes that currently allow the oil and gas industry to avoid complying with environmental protection laws on hydraulic fracking and other activities.
The text of Capps House floor speech (video here) is below:
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this rule and the underlying bills.
These bills are solutions in search of problems. They tear down environmental protections and restrict public participation in an attempt to expand oil and gas production. But oil production on federal lands has gone up significantly since 2008, and federal regulations have not stopped states from implementing their own fracking rules.
These bills are nothing more than reckless giveaways to big oil and gas companies that put American families and the environment at risk.
H.R. 2728, for example, would preemptively prohibit the federal government from setting even minimal safety standards for fracking. Fracking whether onshore or offshore poses serious environmental and public health risks that we dont yet fully understand.
We know very little about the environmental and public health impacts of onshore fracking, but we know even less about offshore fracking.
Offshore fracking has been occurring for over 20 years off of Californias coast with at least four fracs approved as recently as this year. But federal regulators and the public only recently became aware of these activities thanks to FOIA requests released last summer.
We know virtually nothing about the size of these fracs, the chemicals being used, or the impacts on the marine environment.
They have been approved with categorical exemptions and decades-old permits that are woefully inadequate.
Thats why I offered an amendment to H.R. 2728 to stop these activities until a full environmental review is conducted. Unfortunately, my amendment was not made in order, which is disappointing.
If oil companies get to inject millions of gallons of fracking fluids into our public lands, then the least we can do is study the impacts of those activities.
Whether its done offshore or onshore, we have a responsibility to ensure fracking is safe. But these bills only undercut this crucial responsibility.
I urge my colleagues to stop this reckless giveaway to Big Oil and oppose this rule and the underlying bills.
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itsrobert
(14,157 posts)in the hills around Santa Maria. Also the land between Vandenberg AFB and Orcutt. I wouldn't be surprised if fracking was going on there.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)Cleita
(75,480 posts)anything about it. I think I will go. There has been rumors about fracking on the coast and a lot of denial. I'm happy Lois is addressing this.
Piedras
(247 posts)I wonder if fracking has occurred in Price Canyon between Pismo Beach and San Luis Obispo? SLO County turned down permits for oil drilling in rural Huasna Valley east of Arroyo Grande, CA. The company then sued SLO County for lost profits in the billions. I have not followed the progress of the lawsuit.
We are adjacent to areas of Monterey Shale that are beginning to be explored for oil fracking. The last time I looked there are many fracked well sites in Kern County.
sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/oil-company-caught-illegally-dumping-fracking-discharge-in-central-valley
In October of 2012, Kern County farmer Tom Frantz knew an oil company was drilling new wells in the almond orchards near his farm in the town of Shafter. What he didnt know was that the video he recorded of the drilling and hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking caught Vintage Production doing something he suspected was illegal.
My intent was to take a movie if I saw anything interesting, Frantz told KPIX 5.
Vintage Production is just one oil company that has tapped into a vast underground oil reserve called the Monterey Shale, which is estimated to hold more than 15 billion barrels of oil or two thirds of the nations recoverable shale oil reserves.
After posting his video on YouTube, Frantz turned it over to the Regional Water Quality Control Board in the Central Valley. The water boards executive officer, Clay Rodgers, said the video was essential in going after Vintage Production because it was caught in the act of doing something illegal.
bolding added
Piedras
(247 posts)For anyone from out of area here is a link to the Cliffs Resort in Pismo Beach, CA where the hearing will be held Wednesday February 12, 2014. cliffsresort
It is a pretty setting. Although they did take some license with their beautiful undeveloped coastal photo.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)Piedras
(247 posts)It looks like fracking is an early item on the agenda. fracking
ENERGY, OCEAN RESOURCES and FEDERAL CONSISTENCY
7. ENERGY, OCEAN RESOURCES and FEDERAL CONSISTENCY. Report by the Deputy Director on permit waivers, emergency permits, immaterial amendments & extensions, negative determinations, matters not requiring public hearings, and status report on offshore oil & gas exploration & development. For specific information contact the Commissions Energy, Ocean Resources, and Federal Consistency Division office at (415) 904-5240.
a. Hydraulic Fracking Update. Update by Commission staff on oil and gas hydraulic fracking activities in California state and federal waters. (AD-SF)
Piedras
(247 posts)I emailed Congresswoman Lois Capps to ask if she or a knowledgeable staffer can attend the coastal commission hearing and speak out against fracking. The San Luis Obispo office is just a few minutes away from Pismo Beach and Santa Barbara is not all that far either. Her presence or that of a staffer would lend weight to stop fracking of our coastal waters.
Piedras
(247 posts)Lois Capps' scheduler said she will have someone from Congresswoman Capps' office attend the Wednesday 2/12/14 CA Coastal Commission Hearing in Pismo Beach on fracking.