[CRNMC] San Benito County Residents Halfway to Signature Goal for Fracking Ban Initiative

[Shannon Biggs]

I know these folks too if you need some help making contact. 

Best, Shannon 

Shannon Biggs Director, Community Rights Program Global Exchange 415.575.5540 www.globalexchange.org


karinajoy <karinacotler at gmail.com> , 4/28/2014 2:43 PM:
I've just called the spokeperson for this ordinance and asked for a copy of their ordinance. Will forward it, if they send it to me.Thanks for the info, Ed.Karina


On Apr 26, 2014, at 7:40 AM, edward Oberweiser wrote:
  San Benito County Residents Halfway to Signature Goal for Fracking Ban Initiative   Sat Apr 12 2014 (Updated 04/22/14)  Community Members Hope to Be First "Frontline" County in California to Ban Fracking     Community members in San Benito are hoping they will be the first  "frontline" county in California to ban fracking and other methods of  extreme oil and gas extraction. Since late March, volunteers across the  county have begun collecting signatures for a fracking ban initiative  they hope to have on the ballot in November. Progress is moving quickly;  after two weeks of collecting signatures, the organization San Benito  Rising announced they were nearly halfway through their drive.  

 Members of San Benito Rising filed the notice of intent to circulate the  petition with the county clerk in late February. That notice states  that they have begun the process in hopes of "protecting the county’s  groundwater supplies and preserving its rural heritage." They believe  the county is at a "tipping point" and hope the fracking ban will  prevent the possibility of what they call a "proliferation of proposals"  to conduct hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and other high-intensity  petroleum operations in the county’s unincorporated areas. The  initiative to ban fracking, if passed by voters, will prohibit the use  of any land within the county’s unincorporated area for fracking and  other high-intensity petroleum operations. The initiative will also  prohibit the use of land for any petroleum operations within the  county’s unincorporated residential areas.  

 Residents consider San Benito to be a "frontline" community because they  currently have oil and gas drilling in their county, which sits on top  of the Monterey Shale formation. In the county there are many dry or  abandoned oil wells near San Juan Bautista, and near Hollister there are  active wells, in addition to many that are dry or abandoned. In 2013,  environmentalists began fighting a proposal to bring oil operations in  endangered Condor habitat near Pinnacles National Park. San Benito  Rising is concerned that the oil and gas industry could re-stimulate the  abandoned, old wells in their area using new extreme drilling  techniques such as cyclic steam injection, acid fracking, and acid  matrix stimulation.  

Read More with Photos | Update (4/22): San Benito Residents Reach Fracking Ban Signature Goal | San Benito Rising 

 Previous Related Indybay Feature: Lawsuit Targets San Benito County's Approval of 15 Oil Wells in Endangered Condor Habitat   
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