Concerned about water supply? Keep the oil field in operation.
What does oil production in San Luis Obispo County have to do with water supply? Well, our one oil field of note—the Arroyo Grande Oil Field—is a net producer of water. Approximately 500,000 gallons of highly purified water are released into Pismo Creek each day. This supply of water is a steady, drought-proof resource that has been reliably flowing for years.
The oil field’s water reclamation facility is an example of a locally permitted project that went into operation after thorough review by our county CEQA process. The result is not only a high-quality water supply but well-paying jobs right here on the Central Coast. Twenty men and women along with another 100-plus contractors make their living in support of our county’s oil production.
The Arroyo Grande Oil Field is a local source of energy, a reliable supply of fresh water into the Pismo Creek watershed, and raw materials to pave our roads, build our homes, and much more. We would do well to see the Arroyo Grande Oil Field continue into its second century of operations.
Christine Halley
Sentinel Peak Resources, Bakersfield
This article appears in Apr 26 – May 6, 2018.
The oilfield has been around a long time. Didn’t even know it was there until a friend pointed it out to me, and pointed out the natural seeps. They seem to be doing a good job keeping their operations low key. Didn’t know about how they clean up the water. Clean water and jobs. Sounds pretty good to me!
My family receives a royalty check from these operations that has helped put food on our table, and send kids to college. I am sure there are many other families that are beneficiaries of Arroyo Grande and throughout the state.
Thank you Christine for demonstrating the willingness of your company to present distortions and falsehoods as fact to the citizens of San Luis Obispo County. Do you really think we are this gullible?
The Arroyo Grande Oil Field (AGOF) produces 1,200,000 gallons a day of petroleum and chemical contaminated waste water (all statistics from State DOGGR reports) based on pumping 19 barrels of water for every barrel of oil you recover. Your treat some of this waste water for disposal into the creek which gets largely wasted into the ocean. Why is that? Because the waste water injection wells you’re using to dispose of this toxic brew cannot tolerate much more than 30,000 gallons per day. You lack a permit from the EPA to inject waste water into the drinking water aquifer under the oilfield but continue to do it because your oil company got a judge to agree to let you while your Safe Drinking Water Act violations are temporarily ignored until the EPA rules on your case.
The AGOF produces NO energy for local use–in fact, your operation is one of the largest consumers of energy in the County and State when it comes to oil operations. In addition, the oil produced from the AGOF is sold to Phillips 66 and sent by pipeline to Oakland where it is refined and then exported to Asia (Phillips 66 Annual Reports, 2014, 2015). NOTHING produced by the AGOF is utilized in SLO County–no roads are paved, homes built, or gas tanks filled. Where do you come up with these fabrications?
More than 15,000 registered voters have signed a petition to ban NEW oil wells in SLO County and we will be voting on this in November (go to http://protectslocounty for details). The initiative specifically allows the AGOF to continue its operations as usual over the next decades until it runs out of oil. There is no threat to the jobs, incomes, or county property taxes your operation provides. However, the citizens of SLO County will not allow their drinking water to be polluted by toxic oilfield wastewater and chemicals. Please focus you corporate energies on that issue rather than trying to pull the wool over our eyes.
Charles Varni, Coalition to Protect SLO County
Mr. Garcia, you have a good point – Sentinel Peak Resources has investment operations in Los Angeles (where you live), Bakersfield, and Arroyo Grande in San Luis Obispo County (where I live). The Coalition to Protect San Luis Obispo County initiative (if passed in November) to ban fracking and new oil wells does not close the existing Sentinel Peak operation. Sentinel also claimed to have oil 25 years of oil to support the existing operation. So, in the end your BIG OIL BUCKS should keep rolling in.
Now, Im no certified financial advisor, but investing in California oil extraction with its increasing regulation, public opposition, growing carbon foot-print, and costly refining seems like a real bottom-feeder financial play. You may want to consider socially responsible investing (SRI) – your investments can not only perform, but serve a common good. The Vanguard Social Index (index of several green and sustainable investments) has performed as well as the California oil industry over the last five years. While the Solar Energy Industry, for example, will be around a lot longer than 25 years.
Visit http://protectSLOcounty.org to learn more about the San Luis Obispo initiative, or to become involved in our movement. You may also want to Google socially responsible investment funds
Ms. Halley’s affiliation – I did a quick search and discovered that in 2017 she worked for Sentinel Peak Resources (the operator in the Arroyo Grande Oil Field) as their Spokesperson and Health and Safety Director. As an employee or former employee for the operator of the Arroyo Grande Oil Field (Sentinel Peak Resources) Ms. Halley should have disclosed her employment history in her letter to the editor. Shame on you!!
Further Ms. Halley – you are absolutely wrong. First of all the initiative to ban future fracking and new oil wells in San Luis Obispo County does not stop existing operations in the Arroyo Grande Oil Field or cost anyone their job. Take a moment to read the initiative for yourself at (http://protectSLOcounty.org) – knowing your facts would make you a more informed voter and more informed contributor when writing letters to the editor.
Stopping fracking and new oil wells wont reduce employees, or the number of teachers, local police, or stop the World from turning or solve our issues in North Korea. But is will have an impact on our water supply. I looked up Sentinel Peak Resources on LinkedIn and found 124 employees. Those employees listed locations as Denver (Corporate location), Bakersfield and Los Angeles (locations of other Corporate oil operations) but interestingly I found just two employees who listed San Luis Obispo or any other city in our county as their location. I suspect that the few workers here in the Arroyo Grande Oil Field likely commute from Bakersfield. Maybe Ms. Halley you can shed some light on this question?
You could also learn more about the water waste reinjection vs. that water sent to the ocean – check out the recent third-party articles posted on the website http://protectSLOcounty.org
As you may know, the oil extracted from your community in Bakersfield is a higher quality crude and less expensive to extract and refine; and the oil from your community in Bakersfield also requires less of a carbon footprint to extract and refine. The heavier indexed oil extracted from our community in Arroyo Grande comes to the surface with 19 times more water than oil. The majority of that Arroyo Grande water is reinjected into the local water aquifer (this is a fact) using reinjection wells (some of which have been determined as illegal also a fact).
Maybe more importantly, the quantity and percentage of reinjected Arroyo Grande water will dramatically grow if the EPA approves the operators request for expansion. If youre wondering why the cleaned-up water will grow from the now 40% being cleaned and 60% thats reinjected as steam with oil-residue and oil production waste the answer is because the operators reverse osmosis system is totally maxed-out. If it wasnt maxed-out, the operation would be cleaning more than 40% of the water right? If the expansion is approved, they claim production will grow by 8-10X and the math tell us that the amount of water cleaned will drop to 5%, and that 95% will be reinjected. Where you ask – the expanded production, if approved, will allow the reinjection every day of millions of gallons of now oil-laced water into 100s of acres of property overlying the local water aquifer and located just 2 miles from the ocean at Pismo Beach.
Please let me know if I can provide you with more facts, or data that help you better understand the concerns that we have with oil extraction from our San Luis Obispo community of Arroyo Grande.
Dear watersciences – the content of your post suggests you may reside in San Luis Obispo County, is your water science business located here as well?
May I recommend you visit the website http://protectSLOcounty.org to learn more about the oil field that you didnt know about until a friend recently pointed it out. The website can point out other issues which might be of concern to you as a resident of our county. Please let me know if I can help further.
Full disclosure: I work for Sentinel Peak Resources as an Environmental Specialist. The oil from the Arroyo Grande Oil Field in Price Canyon goes to the Phillips 66 (P66) Santa Maria refinery on the Nipomo Mesa. The P66 Santa Maria refinery web page is here: http://www.phillips66.com/refining/santa-maria-refinery . It states, “Our only finished products are petroleum coke (carbon) and sulfur. In fact, many local stores in San Luis Obispo County sell fertilizer made from our sulfur. Petroleum coke is used for a variety of purposes including phosphorus production, metals extraction and fuel.” The oil then goes to the P66 San Francisco refinery, which has a web page here: http://www.phillips66.com/…/san-francisco-refinery.aspx . That web page states, “The majority of refined products are distributed by pipeline, railcar and barge to customers in California.” Their major products are transportation fuels (gasoline, diesel & aviation fuel), and more petroleum coke and sulfur.
P66 may export oil, but the oil from this oil field is used right here in California, primarily for fuel to run your car; power trucks that deliver food to your local grocery store; and to fuel planes that hopefully will soon be taking us all on a nice vacation!
After reading the letters opposing limiting oil production to current levels and spending over a month collecting signatures for the above-mentioned limit, several things are clear. Most people opposed to limits have a financial, as opposed to personal heath, interest in their position. They work in the oil industry or receive royalties for use of their property. It seems to me that if 500 more wells go in, that 25 year supply will not last that long and those royalties will end that much quicker.
Others who did not support limits said they weren’t worried because they have their own personal well. Isn’t it possible that those wells draw their water from the same aquifers we are trying to protect?
The choice seems to me fairly straightforward. Do you choose clean air, clean water, and clean energy, or instant profit. I know where Big Oil stands.
Patrick Vowell: Thank you again for being the first from your company who did a little research and seeks to speak clearly… the P66 website does currently say what you state…. however past Annual Reports from P66 have sung a very different tune. Those report have claimed the product was exported… maybe we should ask Warren Buffet who up to recently owned 16% of P66?
We need oil, but we need oil extracted from less carbon intensive regions.
But the initiative put forth by the Coalition to Protect San Luis Obispo County does not shut down the existing operation or their oil production – your job is safe. Read for yourself at http://protectSLOcounty.org – and thank you
Net Water Producer? Sending 500,000 gallons of water down the creek each day is something you are proud of? How will continuing at this rate and expanding this rate into the next century going to affect the groundwater supply and surrounding basins that are already being depleted at a rate they are currently unable to recover from?? We do not know because its not something anyone is studying. There is no work or study that will tell us how pulling millions of gallons of water from the Arroyo Grande Oil Field will affect our groundwater supplies we simply do not know. You are conducting a bad experiment with our most precious resource which is the water (not the oil).
“Drought Proof resource” sounds a bit too good to be true and in my experience if it sounds too good to be true it is, too good to be true……. meanwhile the surrounding basins to the north and south of the Price Canyon Oil field must comply to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act due to the fact they are both being depleted at an unsustainable rate…..With every action there is a reaction. Dipping into this magic source of Drought Proof water to be poured down the creek and used to extract the dirtiest crude oil while releasing carbon emissions into our air is irresponsible. Irresponsible to our current and our future generations of residents of SLO county. The oil and water in this field should be left in the ground, how do we know our children or grandchildren will not need it in the future. Water is our most precious resource, now is the time to treat it as precious!!
Ms. Halley cherry picks the information she provides and represents it in a way that is misleading. Shes paid to do that. People who accept this article as balanced and forthcoming about the downside to oil drilling are choosing to rationalize the harm that comes of it.
Why. For a minority there may be short-term gain. For others, it may be resistance to regulation. But everyone will lose in the long run.
There is universally accepted evidence that reinjection of produced water increases the incidence of earthquakes. Earthquakes can cause rejected poisonous water to mix with ground water. People have created homes for themselves in reliance on that water. What will they do then? It is astounding that people are willing to risk so much for such a short term and very small gain. The number of people who benefit are few in comparison to the number of people who rely on that water. And their benefit is miniscule compared to that of the oil company, who will move on when the land is depleted or spoiled.
Companies would have you believe what they want you to believe. Ms. Halley and Sentinel Peak Resources are no exception. Only you can protect your interests. No one can do it for you. Self-preservation begins with stopping the expansion of oil drilling in your backyard and the further depletion and poisoning of your ground water.
Ms. Halley cherry picks the information she provides and represents it in a way that is misleading. Shes paid to do that. People who accept this article as balanced and forthcoming about the downside to oil drilling are choosing to rationalize the harm that comes of it.
Why? For a minority there may be short-term gain. For others, it may be resistance to regulation. But everyone will lose in the long run.
There is universally accepted evidence that reinjection of produced water increases the incidence of earthquakes. Earthquakes can cause rejected poisonous water to mix with ground water. People have created homes for themselves in reliance on that water. What will they do then? It is astounding that some people are willing to risk so much for such a short term and very small gain. The number of people who benefit are few in comparison to the number of people who rely on that water. And their benefit is miniscule compared to that of the oil company, who will move on when the land is depleted or spoiled.
Companies would have us believe what they want us to believe. Ms. Halley and Sentinel Peak Resources are no exception. Only we can protect our interests. No one can do it for us. Self-preservation begins with stopping the expansion of oil drilling in our backyard and the further depletion and poisoning of our ground water.
Why does it only show the dislikes?
Well, Christine Halley of Sentinel Peak Resources that was quite a yarn about the Arroyo Grande Oil Field as a net water producer.
If you ignore the facts I suppose that piece makes perfect sense.
Fact is water is not a renewable resource and the net benefit and value is priceless unless you try to factor in the cost of replacing it. Water is Ancient. Not something you produce overnight. A gift if you will from the creator of life. Water is life. By law this gift can only be used as a primary source for beneficial purposes. Mainly because it is so precious and scarce wasting it would be a crime.
Only 2 percent of all the water on earth is fresh and drinkable and mere humans have not been able to create a single drop. We can use it and abuse but we cant create it. And the Arroyo Grande Oil Field has never complied with that beneficial rule of law. Why not I wonder?
CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION ARTICLE 10 WATER SEC. 2. It is hereby declared that because of the conditions prevailing in this State the general welfare requires that the water resources of the State be put to beneficial use to the fullest extent of which they are capable, and that the waste or unreasonable use or unreasonable method of use of water be prevented
The AGOF uses on average 1.5 million gallons of fresh water provided by nature free of charge per day to produce a lethal concoction good for nothing.
Only about 1/6 of that water can be recovered and restored to semi perfect condition which takes a ton of additional expensive, labor intensive energy at a water treatment plant. And this benefits who at what cost?
It only benefits the abuser at the expense of the common good use of water for the public good.
At this rate AGOF is operating at a diminishing rate of return with more negative effects than positive.
And then there is the problem of all that toxic waste you pulled up from the earth in your disemboweling process. Radioactive ions and hydrogen sulfide and other poly, moly, ethyl, methyl, bad stuff you added to the mix to facilitate the smooth flow of extracting asphalt grade crude?
Aside from the illegal fugitive releases of gases into the air we know you release because we can smell it, there is still a bunch that needs to be disposed of. Self-regulation is convenient but not good enough to get rid of everything. So what to do with this toxic soup you have net produced?
Let me guess? You need an underground, out of sight, out of mind aquifer to dispose of over 1,589 acre feet of toxic waste and gas and radioactive ions you produce each year using clean water that is designated for the public benefit. Net Water producers? Oh that is rich. Net lethal waste producers.
And do you have a license to dispose of that toxic waste you produce?
Fact is no you dont. Freedom of Information Act from the EPA reveals that the AGOF is not licensed or permitted or registered or certified, never has been, to dispose of toxic waste on site and that makes the operation illegal and in violation 40 CFR 144.11 – Prohibition of unauthorized injection. | US Law | LII …
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/40/144.11
Any underground injection, except into a well authorized by or except as authorized by permit issued under the UIC program rule [AGOF is not authorized by rule or exception], is prohibited. The construction of any well required to have a permit is prohibited until the permit has been issued. To date the AGOF is in violation of licensing and permitting codes and is incurring fines and penalties @ $20,000 per well, per day.
Yes, you can start calculating those fines from Feb. 15, 2017 when EPA and DOGGR issued cease and desist on all unlicensed wells. Over 10,000 in California and 11 @ the AGOF.
Fact is you can call yourselves Net Producers of a windfall of fines and penalties for SLO County and State of California that is now well over a billion dollars.
And just to be clear and for the record the aquifer exemption you have been lobbying for is not a license to dump. Sorry. But you must know this. A license to dispose of the toxic waste is a whole separate and distinct process. And it is mandatory. No exemptions. No exceptions.
It is called the Underground Injection Control program and guarantees through rigorous standards and independent testing that the injected waste will be safe and secure for over 10,000 years and that there are no active earthquake faults in the drilling zone. But you know this of course.
Very smart, educated, accredited, verified and certified experts recognize that earthquakes pose a serious risk that could cause irreversible and irreparable harm to our water resources by releasing toxic contaminates stored in unstable and untested sites. We cant afford any accidents that contaminate or threaten our water source. That would be a death sentence. That is why certification and registration with the proper authorities for the safe disposal of toxic waste is a must.
And where is Arroyo Grandes EPA registration and certification as a Class I Underground disposal site? Dont have one? Well, now that is real cause for concern isnt it? I seriously doubt that the AGOF could get certified a disposal site because it sits on three known fault lines. That you have avoided certification for all these years makes us wonder why? I guess no one has actually insisted you comply so you just keep breaking the law until someone tells you to stop.
And drought proof? I don’t think so. The AGOF did not comply with the 25% mandatory water reduction and in fact asked for a 300% increase to expand operation during the drought. So, 8,500 families cut back 50% on their water usage so AGOF could use it to manufacture toxic waste to dump in their back yard. That is such a neighborly thing to do.
Who should be insisting and checking that all operators and operation at the AGOF are licensed and certified? SLO County planning department who issues the permits? SLO county Board of Supervisors who approves permits? State of California Department of Gas and Geothermal Resources who makes and enforces the rules and regulations? State and Federal EPA who enforces the safety codes? The Governor – Commander-in-Chief? The Attorney General chief law enforcement officer for the people of this state? If you guessed all of the above you would be correct.
And job creation? Oh yes. Nasty, extremely dangerous, sickening jobs and you dont even offer health care to your field workers. Local municipalities pick up the tab for workers that are exposed to extremely toxic chemicals and conditions and debilitating accidents that occur on a daily basis. And the contract workers? Not local. From your pool of contractors.
So, we would do well to issue you a cease and desist order to prevent you from disposing of your illegal ill-gotten gains in our backyard until and when you can agree to comply with State and Federal safety and health laws. And yes we do recognize you have bragging rights for being a net producer of toxic waste that clearly endangers all life forms in our community.
Jeanne Blackwell
Thank you Jeanne Blackwell for this wealth of information. Seems to me, we all should take this opportunity to write our County Supervisor and the code enforcement department within County Planning and ask for answers.
I heard that the Coalition to Protect San Luis Obispo County submitted over 20,000 signatures yesterday in support of the initiative to ban new oil wells and to prevent fracking. I thank those 20,000 voters looks to me like our county residents feel the time has come to focus on our quality of life, renewable energy, and the economies that fuel our community, including agriculture, tourism, and education.