A conga line marched a box of voter signatures into the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder’s Office on May 1.
After almost nine weeks of work, the Coalition to Protect San Luis Obispo County had collected more than 20,000 signatures on its initiative to ban fracking and new oil wells in the county—but allow current oil operations to continue as they are.
“We used the opportunity to celebrate a little camaraderie,” Coalition Coordinator Doug Timewell said. “I think we could have done a lot more. You know we got a late start because we wanted to make sure the wording of the initiative was perfect.”
Timewell said the campaign really built momentum over time, starting small and ending with more than 320 volunteers collecting signatures. To qualify for the November ballot, the clerk-recorder’s office needs to verify that at least 8,500 of those (or 10 percent of the more than 85,000 residents who voted in the 2014 governor’s race) signatures are from eligible SLO County residents.
“The next step in the campaign is really education,” Timewell said, adding that it will focus on some of the issues that exist in the Arroyo Grande oil field. “The biggest issue is the projected growth and the expansion into hundreds of more acres for their reinjection wells outside of their existing aquifer.”
The oil field’s current operator, Sentinel Peak Resources, inherited an application that Freeport McMoRan (its past operator) had filed with the Environmental Protection Agency that would enable it to continue current operations and drill the remaining 31 oil wells of a 95-well project approved in 2005. In 2014, the California Department of Conservation discovered that between 70 and 80 of Freeport’s reinjection wells (as well as 50,000 other wells in the state) were injecting wastewater from oil operations into a portion of the aquifer that wasn’t exempt from the Clean Water Act.
Sentinel Peak Resources spokesperson Christine Halley said the company is awaiting the EPA’s decision on whether to exempt that portion of the aquifer from the Clean Water Act. She added that the oil company doesn’t have current plans to pursue the next phase of drilling that Freeport McMoRan had proposed to the county—450 new oil wells, 100 of which would have been replacement wells.
“That is not an active application right now,” Halley said. “To frame this as if there’s some application for hundreds of wells circulating with the county, is not true.”
Halley said that if the initiative were to pass in November, the way it’s worded would affect the oil field’s current operations. Over an oil well’s natural life span, the production declines over time, and in order for an oil field to continue producing, those wells need to be replaced, she said.
“It’s a rhythmic cycle of well replacement and new well drilling,” Halley said. “No matter how they think it’s worded, the wording says no new production. The wording says no new facilities. … It would shut down a local employer.” Δ
This article appears in May 3-13, 2018.
This initiative is a bad idea.
This initiative is a bad idea. Job killing and poorly written, it will hurt SLO right when Diablo shuts down.
Another example of attempted confiscation of private property rights. Yes, mineral owners are property owners too. First they came for the mineral rights, then theyll try to tell the farmers what they can do with their land and what they can and cannot grow. Sound familiar? Remember the Soviet Union collectives. Yeah, that approach was successful. Not.
Ms. Halley, while youre waiting for EPA approval, why not obey the law and stop reinjecting into our county water aquifer? And, If your company really has no expansion or next phase plans, as you say – why not withdraw your application for expansion?
I call bullpucky Stop the illegal reinjection.
Our Board of Supervisors and County Planning should take action now.
Lets be clear, Sentinel Peak Resources is illegally dumping oil field waste and water into an aquifer without approval, they are seeking approval for the aquifer exemption and expansion to grow the oil field, this will and greatly increase the amount of oil and water extracted and most importantly reinjected into the acquirer theyre currently outlawed from using.
My 2 cents.
Thank you to theconfiscators and Corruptifornia for hiding behind alias names.
On another note:
San Luis Obispo County Voters do not want to be told how to vote… by paid political operatives living outside the area, like Sacramento, and funded by the oil industry….
My 2 cents.
Encouraging oil expansion is short sighted. They may be expanding their technological grasp, but no one can expand their reserves under the ground.
We need jobs, tax revenue, and drinking water for our children, and children’s children, etc. Our generation’s responsibility is to fix our mistakes and begin the journey to energy independence, not invest in a race to the bottom.
Don’t forget the oil fire at Tank Farm.
Don’t forget the decade long oil spill that completely destroyed Avila Beach.
Don’t forget our history, cherish about our future. Get oil out of SLO.
Again the big lie that this initiative kills jobs which it does not. The current Price Canyon oil operation is NOT effected, only its dangerous plans to expand its number of wells so it can suck up the remaining reserves and sell them as quickly as possible on the world market to make millions. This risks contamination of our precious groundwater and this dirty fuel is burned adding to the global CO2 levels and exacerbating climate change.
Somebody hiding behind the name, Corruptifornia posted 2 of the 3 negative comments about this initiative. The forth comment is hiding behind the name theconfiscators. If you click on these names you find they are both “Member since May 3, 2018.” Today! Why are these persons (or person) hiding their real names? Are they spokespersons for BigOil?
Corruptifornia? Shall I list the BigOil corruption in San Luis Obispo? Google and read about the Avila Beach pipeline oil leak covered up by BigOil for years!
California, and California counties, have the right to protect their water and environment from dangerous activities such as fracking. Big Oil is fighting for their future frack profits in spite of its history of pollution. Profits are good, pollution is not. Do a little research and dont be fooled.
A SLO County known for its beautiful beaches, its quaint towns, its wineries, its celebration of the nature – thats the SLO County I want to live in. Thats the SLO County that generates millions of dollars in tourism revenue every year. Thats the SLO County that will generate sustainable economic growth, jobs, etc. Why dont we focus on that big picture?
Well, Christine I can see you have some concerns. Let me help you understand what is happening here. First, even if the aquifer is exempted by the EPA an exemption is not a license to drill. Sentinel still has to register the oil field with the Underground Injection Control Program in order to be able to legally and lawfully dispose of that toxic waste on site and that is under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Nothing to do with the exemption of an aquifer under the Clean Water Act.
And then there is the Safe Drinking Water Act that has its own set of disposal dumping criteria that must be meet. The aquifer may be exempted because it is a bit too briny for human consumption under the Clean Water Act but that does not mean it is o.k. to toxify it with lethal chemicals that puts us all in constant state of fear of contamination of our water.
Oil industry does have a history of accidents, spills, leaks and reckless disregard that has caused irreparable and irreversible harm and damage to every living thing it comes in contact with. And that statement is documented by National and international peer reviewed studies and a Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings updated as recently as March of 2018. So perhaps you will understand a little better Christine why we are a little skeptical and extra cautious when it comes to believing an trusting a new kid on the block with a bad reputation. Still need to get those certificates validated and registered with the proper authorities before you can even apply for a new permit to drill. Exemptions are of no consequence here. We need the real thing. A clean bill of health from the Proper authorities and in compliance with all the safety and health codes.
Of course when you apply for the new permit and start from square one since you aren’t inheriting Freeport’s expired and pass due applications all of these modalities and criteria will most certainly be checked and rechecked for proper licensing this time around. We are a law abiding community that takes the safety health and well being of its citizens very seriously. We have been fooled and hookwinked before by unscrupulous and ne’er do wells and believe me we know our rights and your duties and responsibilities so we come well prepared.
We know too who is responsible for issuing the permits, planning department, and approving them, the Board of Supervisors and so there is the bee line to liability and responsibility to do it right or else. We have them dead to rights and well within our immediate jurisdiction and control. Elected officials are kind of at our beck and call and that is the way it should be. Lucky for us we do not a problem calling on them to do their job and do it right or else.
Do feel quite free to apply for oil extraction and toxic waste disposal permits and know that if you don’t come with the proper licenses and registration we are going after that agency and those elected officials responsible for accepting applications without verifying proper licensing. Wouldn’t let a doctor perform heart surgery without verifying he is a registered and licensed heart surgeon now would you? Issuing permits to unlicensed contractors will get some asses fired. Your permit application could be a long time coming if we are looking at first taking care of business in our own back yard. Just a heads up.
So are you licensed and have the registration #’s to prove it? You don’t have anything to worry about if you do and it should all go very smoothly. And not to worry. The ordinance does not pose any threat to legal, lawful operations. In fact it protects them. Hope that helps Christine.
Ms. Halley seems to think (or has intentionally inferred) that approval for drilling new replacement wells was a foregone conclusion BEFORE the initiative AND IT JUST ISNT SO. A new permit is required and there’s no guarantee it can meet environmental standards. Even as I type, Sentinel Peak Resources is illegally exceeding its existing permit (where have you been DOGGR?). The company got caught and now wants “retroactive permission.” The fact that it hasn’t stopped illegally reinjecting hazardous waste into the aquifer is evidence of its complete disregard for environmental safety and a willingness to flaunt DOGGR, the EPA and county regulatory requirements. It doesn’t make sense to trust or reward a bad actor with a new expanded permit.