[CRNMC] Santa Cruz becomes first California county to ban fracking

[Steve Scalmanini]

In case you haven't seen this yet.
Steve

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*Santa Cruz becomes first California county to ban fracking*

By Rory Carroll
May 20, 2014
Reuters

http://news.yahoo.com/santa-cruz-becomes-first-california-county-ban-fracking-012754402--finance.html 


SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Santa Cruz on Tuesday became the first California 
county to ban fracking, the latest in a string of moves by local governments in 
the state to take a stand against the controversial oil and gas producing method.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, relies on injecting water, sand and some 
chemicals deep beneath the earth's surface to break up rock and free up oil and 
gas trapped below.
Environmentalists say the chemicals used in the process can pollute underground 
water supplies and cause other damage.
The scenic county of Santa Cruz does not have any oil or gas production, but 
advocates said momentum for a ban took shape after reports surfaced saying that 
oil companies were exploring the possibly of fracking in neighboring San Benito 
county.
The ban is also intended to pressure California Governor Jerry Brown into 
agreeing to put a halt to the practice in the state, a step he refused to take 
in the last legislative session.
Brown has said he supports fracking because he believes it is better for the 
state to produce its own crude oil than rely on imports.
"While Governor Brown refuses to protect our health and environment from 
fracking risks, local communities across the state are moving forward with 
measures to fight oil industry pollution," said Rose Braz of the Center for 
Biological Diversity.
An oil industry representative on Tuesday played down the significance of the 
Santa Cruz vote, calling it "symbolic."
"Activists are going around the state pursuing total bans on oil and gas 
development under the guise of wanting to ban fracking, but in places where 
people earn their livings responsibly producing our oil and gas resources, this 
strategy won't work," said Dave Quast, California director of Energy In Depth, 
an oil industry-backed group.
Fracking has emerged as a top environmental issue in California. Its Monterey 
Shale formation contains an estimated 15 billion barrels of hard-to-reach oil, 
according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The action in Santa Cruz follows a vote earlier this month by city leaders in 
Beverly Hills to ban fracking, making it the first municipality in the state to 
prohibit the practice.
Los Angeles and Culver City are considering bans on fracking as well.
Last month, the city council in Carson, California, declined to extend a 
temporary moratorium on fracking and other extraction practices. Occidental 
Petroleum is looking to drill more than 200 new wells in the Southern California 
city, although it denies it will frack or use acid to stimulate those wells.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

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