<div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div><br></div><center style="color:rgb(17,17,17);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><div style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13.3px"><img tabindex="0" class="" alt="stop_fracking.jpg " style="border-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial;" src="cid:0680E928-3220-419B-8CB3-65207563DC61" height="394" width="526"><br><strong>stop_fracking.jpg</strong><br></div></center><span style="color:rgb(17,17,17);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br></span><div style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13.3px;color:rgb(17,17,17)">Massive dumping of wastewater into aquifers shows Big Oil's power in California <br><br>Oil industry illegally injected nearly 3 billion gallons of wastewater <br><br>by Dan Bacher <br><br>As
the oil industry spent record amounts on lobbying in Sacramento and
made record profits, documents obtained by the Center for Biological
Diversity reveal that almost 3 billion gallons of oil industry
wastewater were illegally dumped into Central California aquifers that
supply drinking water and irrigation water for farms. <br><br>The Center
said the wastewater entered the aquifers through at least nine
injection disposal wells used by the oil industry to dispose of waste
contaminated with fracking (hydraulic fracturing) fluids and other
pollutants. (<a href="http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/california_fracking/pdfs/20140915_State_Board_UIC_well_list_Category_1a.pdf" style="color:rgb(11,45,90);border-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial" target="_blank">http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/california_fracking/pdfs/20140915_State_Board_UIC_well_list_Category_1a.pdf</a>) <br><br>The
documents also reveal that Central Valley Regional Water Quality Board
testing found high levels of arsenic, thallium and nitrates,
contaminants sometimes found in oil industry wastewater, in water-supply
wells near these waste-disposal operations. <br><br>The illegal dumping
took place in a state where Big Oil is the most powerful corporate
lobby and the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) is the most
powerful corporate lobbying organization, alarming facts that the
majority of the public and even many environmental activists are not
aware of. <br><br>An analysis of reports filed with the California
Secretary of State shows that the oil industry collectively spent over
$63 million lobbying California policymakers between January 1, 2009 and
June 30, 2014. The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), led by
President Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the former chair of the Marine Life
Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create
so-called "marine protected areas" in Southern California, topped the
oil industry lobby spending with $26,969,861. <br><br>The enormous
influence that the oil lobby exerts over legislators, agency leaders,
the Governor's Office and state and federal regulatory officials is the
reason why Big Oil has been able to contaminate groundwater aquifers,
rivers and ocean waters in California for decades with impunity. The
contamination of aquifers becomes even more alarming when one considers
that California is now reeling from a record drought where people,
farms, fish and wildlife are suffering from extremely low conditions in
reservoirs, rivers and streams. <br><br>Hollin Kretzmann, a Center
attorney, criticized state regulators for failing to do their job of
protecting precious water supplies from oil industry pollution - and
urged Governor Jerry Brown to take action to halt the environmentally
destructive practice of fracking in California. (<a href="http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2014/fracking-10-06-2014.html" style="color:rgb(11,45,90);border-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial" target="_blank">http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2014/fracking-10-06-2014.html</a>) <br><br>"Clean
water is one of California’s most crucial resources, and these
documents make it clear that state regulators have utterly failed to
protect our water from oil industry pollution," said Kretzmann. "Much
more testing is needed to gauge the full extent of water pollution and
the threat to public health. But Governor Brown should move quickly to
halt fracking to ward off a surge in oil industry wastewater that
California simply isn’t prepared to dispose of safely.” <br><br>Kretzmann
said the State Water Resources Control Board "confirmed beyond doubt"
that at least nine wastewater disposal wells have been injecting waste
into aquifers that contain high-quality water that is supposed to be
protected under federal and state law. (<a href="http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/california_fracking/pdfs/20140915_Bishop_letter_to_Blumenfeld_Responding_to_July_17_2014_UIC_Letter.pdf" style="color:rgb(11,45,90);border-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial" target="_blank">http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/california_fracking/pdfs/20140915_Bishop_letter_to_Blumenfeld_Responding_to_July_17_2014_UIC_Letter.pdf</a>) <br><br>"Thallium
is an extremely toxic chemical commonly used in rat poison," according
to a statement from the Center. "Arsenic is a toxic chemical that can
cause cancer. Some studies show that even low-level exposure to arsenic
in drinking water can compromise the immune system’s ability to fight
illness." <br><br>“Arsenic and thallium are extremely dangerous
chemicals,” said Timothy Krantz, a professor of environmental studies at
the University of Redlands. “The fact that high concentrations are
showing up in multiple water wells close to wastewater injection sites
raises major concerns about the health and safety of nearby residents.” <br><br>The
Center obtained a letter from the State Water Resources Control Board
to the federal Environmental Protection Agency stating that the Central
Valley Regional Water Quality Board has confirmed that injection wells
have been dumping oil industry waste into aquifers that are legally
protected under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. <br><br>The State
Water Board also concedes that another 19 wells may also have
contaminated protected aquifers, and dozens more have been injecting
waste into aquifers of unknown quality. <br><br>"The Central Valley
Water Board tested eight water-supply wells out of more than 100 in the
vicinity of these injection wells," according to the Center. "Arsenic,
nitrate and thallium exceeded the maximum contaminant level in half the
water samples." <br><br>The Vote No on Prop. 1 (Water Bond) Campaign
responded to the Center's release of the documents by pointing out the
irony of the fact that the same Legislature that nearly unanimously
voted to put the water bond on the November ballot also rejected a
fracking moratorium in California <br><br>"Prop 1 folks tout how it will
provide funding to clean up groundwater in the SJ Valley," according to
a statement from the campaign. "This is something we want to see too.
But if fracking is unregulated and fracking wells are already leaking,
shouldn't we work on the fracking moratorium first? Or at least
simultaneously. And the legislators who passed Prop 1 voted against the
fracking moratorium." <br><br>It is no surprise that the State Senators
who voted no on the fracking moratorium bill received 14 times more
money in campaign contributions from the oil industry than those who
voted no on the measure. (<a href="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/06/07/18757051.php" style="color:rgb(11,45,90);border-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial" target="_blank">http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/06/07/18757051.php</a>) <br><br>Restore
the Delta responded to the report also: "At RTD, we have always known
that water needs to be shared from the Delta- we argue that it must be
at levels that are sustainable for the estuary. When we see items like
this, however, it's hard to maintain that reasonable stance. We
predicted a year ago that SJ Valley fracking sites would contaminate
groundwater, making the region more dependent on water exports." <br><br>Long term threat posed by waste water disposal may be even worse <br><br>The
Center said that while the current extent of contamination is cause for
"grave concern," the long-term threat posed by the unlawful wastewater
disposal may be even more devastating. <br><br>"Benzene, toluene and
other harmful chemicals used in fracking fluid are routinely found in
flowback water coming out of oil wells in California, often at levels
hundreds of times higher than what is considered safe, and this flowback
fluid is sent to wastewater disposal wells. Underground migration of
chemicals like benzene can take years," the Center stated. <br><br>The
state’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) shut down
11 Kern County oil field injection wells and began scrutinizing almost
100 others that were potentially contaminating protected groundwater.
The Environmental Protection Agency, which has ultimate legal authority
over underground injection, ordered state officials to provide an
assessment of the water-contamination risk within 60 days, and the
letter from the state Water Board confirms that illegal contamination
has occurred at multiple sites. <br><br>California’s oil and gas fields
produce billions of gallons of contaminated wastewater each year, much
of which is injected underground. California has an estimated 2,583
wastewater injection wells, of which 1,552 are currently active,
according to the Center. <br><br>Wastewater injection wells are located
throughout the state, from the Chico area in Northern California to Los
Angeles in Southern California and even include offshore wells near
Santa Barbara. Kern County in the Southern San Joaquin Valley is home to
the largest number of oil wells in California. <br><br>The fracking
wastewater poses a huge threat not only to human health, but to fish
including endangered and threatened salmon and steelhead and wildlife as
the water makes its way to rivers and streams. The last thing that
imperiled salmon and steelhead populations need, as they face a
combination of drought and poor management of the state's reservoirs and
rivers by the state and federal agencies, is the threat of increased
pollution of their habitat by benzene, toluene and other harmful
fracking chemicals, <br><br>A recent study by the US Drought Monitor
reported that 58 percent of California is experiencing “exceptional
drought,” the most serious category on the agency’s five-level scale. A
fracking job can require as much as 140,000 to 150,000 gallons of water
per day. (<a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/08/01/fracking-making-california-s-drought-worse-say-activists" style="color:rgb(11,45,90);border-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial" target="_blank">http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/08/01/fracking-making-california-s-drought-worse-say-activists</a>) <br><br>For more information, go to: <a href="http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" style="color:rgb(11,45,90);border-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial" target="_blank">http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/</a> <br><br>Oil industry power and money dominates California politics <br><br>As
an investigative journalist who has written many articles documenting
oil industry power and money in California politics, I find it extremely
important to review recent financial data on the oil industry in
California. This data reveals how the regulated have captured the
regulators in California, just like Wall Street big banks captured the
regulatory apparatus. <br><br>While there are many powerful industries
based in California, ranging from the computer and high tech industry to
corporate agribusiness, no industry has more influence over the state's
environmental policies than Big Oil. Unfortunately, most of the public
and even many environmental activists have no idea how much influence
the oil industry has on the Governor, the Legislature and state panels
and environmental processes in the state. <br><br>An ongoing analysis of
reports filed with the California Secretary of State shows that the oil
industry collectively spent over $63 million lobbying California
policymakers between January 1, 2009 and June 30, 2014. The Western
States Petroleum Association led the oil industry lobby spending with
$26,969,861. <br><br>"The oil industry is spending over $1 million per
month lobbying Sacramento, with the Western States Petroleum Association
(WSPA) as the second overall leading spender so far in 2014 with almost
$3 million spent in the past six months," according to Stop Fooling
California (<a href="http://www.stopfoolingca.org/" style="color:rgb(11,45,90);border-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial" target="_blank">http://www.stopfoolingca.org</a>),
an online and social media public education and awareness campaign that
highlights oil companies efforts to mislead and confuse Californians.
"Chevron, with $1.3 million spent so far in 2014, is also among the top
five. If money speaks, Big Oil has the loudest voice in politics." <br><br>WSPA
was California’s second overall leading lobbyist spender, with $1.5
million spent in the second quarter of 2014. This is the second largest
quarter going back to January 2009. <br><br>WSPA is on pace to exceed
the previous record annual (2012) total in 2014. WSPA has paid over $2
million to KP Public Affairs, the state’s highest paid lobbying firm,
during the current (2013-14) legislative session, according to the
group. WSPA spent $4,670,010 on lobbying in 2013 and $5,698,917 in
2012. <br><br>Chevron is the fifth overall spender in California through
the second quarter of 2014, having spent $784,757 that quarter, an
increase of nearly $300,000 over the prior quarter. <br><br>Yet these
millions of dollars are just chump change to Big Oil, since the five big
oil companies made over $93 billion in profits in 2013. This year, Big
Oil's profits are estimated to be over $72 billion to date, based on
information from The Center for American Progress (<a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2014/02/10/83879/with-only-93-billion-in-profits-the-big-five-oil-companies-demand-to-keep-tax-breaks/" style="color:rgb(11,45,90);border-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial" target="_blank">http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2014/02/10/83879/with-only-93-billion-in-profits-the-big-five-oil-companies-demand-to-keep-tax-breaks/</a>) <br><br>A
report released on April 1, 2014 by the ACCE Institute and Common Cause
reveals that Big Oil has spent $143.3 million on political candidates
and campaigns – nearly $10 million per year and more than any other
corporate lobby – over the past fifteen years. (<a href="http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2014/04/10/bil_oil_floods_the_capitol_4.1.14v2.pdf" style="color:rgb(11,45,90);border-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial" target="_blank">http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2014/04/10/bil_oil_floods_the_capitol_4.1.14v2.pdf</a>) <br><br>But
Big Oil exerts its influence not just by making campaign contributions,
but also by lobbying legislators at the State Capitol. The oil industry
spent $123.6 million to lobby elected officials in California from 1999
through 2013. This was an increase of over 400 percent since the
1999-2000 legislative session, when the industry spent $4.8 million. In
2013-2014 alone, the top lobbyist employer, Western States Petroleum
Association, spent $4.7 million. <br><br>Oil industry officials serve on regulatory and advisory panels <br><br>The
oil industry also exerts its muscle by serving on and dominating state
and federal regulatory and advisory panels. For example, Catherine
Reheis-Boyd, the President of the Western States Petroleum Association,
chaired the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon
Task Force to create alleged "marine protected areas" in Southern
California. She also served on the task forces to create "marine
protected areas" on the Central Coast, North Central Coast and South
Coast. <br><br>It is no surprise that the so-called "marine protected
areas" created under the helm of Reheis-Boyd and other corporate
operatives failed to protect the ocean from fracking offshore oil
drilling, pollution, corporate aquaculture, military testing and all
human impacts on the ocean other than sustainable fishing and
gathering. <br><br>Ironically, while WSPA President Catherine
Reheis-Boyd served on the task forces to "protect" the ocean, the same
oil industry that the "marine guardian" represents was conducting
environmentally destructive hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations
off the Southern California coast. <br><br>Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and media investigations by Associated Press and <a href="http://truthout.org" target="_blank">truthout.org</a>
reveal that the ocean has been fracked at least 203 times in the past
20 years, including the period from 2004 to 2012 that Reheis-Boyd served
as a "marine guardian.” (<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/10/19/calif-finds-more-instances-of-offshore-fracking/3045721/" style="color:rgb(11,45,90);border-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial" target="_blank">http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/10/19/calif-finds-more-instances-of-offshore-fracking/3045721/</a>) <br><br>To
make matters worse, Reheis-Boyd also serves on a federal government
marine protected areas panel. The National Marine Protected Areas Center
website lists Reheis-Boyd as a member of a 20 member MPA (Marine
Protected Areas) Advisory Committee. <br><br>In addition to the oil
industry spending exerting its enormous power through campaign
contributions, lobbying legislators and serving on state and federal
regulatory panels, the oil industry also has set up "Astroturf" groups,
including the California Drivers Alliance and Fueling California, to
fight against environmental regulations protecting our air, water, land,
fish, wildlife and human health. <br><br>"The set up is basically this:
some Californian (who is supposed to be your proxy) regurgitates Big
Oil talking points that don't resemble reality, equating protecting Big
Oil's profits with protecting the people," according to Stop Fooling
California. <br><br>Most recently, the Monterey Herald reported that San
Benito United for Energy Independence, the oil and gas industry-funded
group behind a slate of ads airing throughout the Central Coast on TV
and radio, raised more than $1.7 million to fight Measure J, an
initiative to ban fracking in San Benito Count that goes before the
voters on <span tabindex="0" class=""><span class="">November 4</span></span>.
"While the group touts its local ties, none of the money funding
Measure J's opposition comes from San Benito County," said reporter
Jason Hoppin. <br><br>"San Benito United is entirely funded by an
industry-backed group called Californians for Energy Independence. Oil
companies have been pumping millions into that group in the last few
months, including $2.5 million from San Ramon-based Chevron, $2.1
million from San Ardo-based Aera Energy and $2 million from
Houston-based Occidental Petroleum," said Hoppin. (<a href="http://www.montereyherald.com/localnews/ci_26698353/big-oil-opens-wallet-fight-fracking-bans" style="color:rgb(11,45,90);border-style:none;border-width:initial;border-color:initial" target="_blank">http://www.montereyherald.com/localnews/ci_26698353/big-oil-opens-wallet-fight-fracking-bans</a>) <br><br>Politicians
like Governor Jerry Brown like to portray California as a "green"
leader, but the reality is that the oil industry, along with
agribusiness and other corporate lobbies, exerts enormous influence over
the state's environmental policies, making the claims that California
is a "green" state highly dubious.</div><div>On Oct 13, 2014, at 8:18 AM, edward Oberweiser wrote:</div></div>