Open letter to Gov. Newsom 

My question is how do we enforce that law? What good are laws, rules, regulations, codes if there is no enforcement mechanism? Without consequences for noncompliance, laws are ignored.

We don't need new laws. We need the old ones enforced. If the old ones failed because of noncompliance, what can we expect from the new ones? Same thing.

Enforcing laws shouldn't take forever or cost a community a small fortune to hire lawyers to sue. It also makes no sense to sue the oil industry for doing what our elected officials gave them permission to do by turning a blind eye to enforcing codes and laws for our protection. The officials who gave them permission need to be held responsible for not doing their job. We trusted and relied on them to ensure our safety and well-being.

The Arroyo Grande Oil Field (AGOF) has been operating unlawfully for more than 15 years. The state of California cited the AGOF to be in violation of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) UIC [underground injection control] Class I certification for the safe disposal of waste by-products into our backyard and the capping and sealing of 44 abandoned wells.

The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors has permitted Sentinel to dump unlicensed, untested, undisclosed, unidentified foreign man-made chemicals into undisclosed, unidentified sites in our backyard for years. This practice defies, violates local, state, and federal codes and regulations that stipulate unequivocally that every injection well's content must be certified and verified safe before one drop is injected into subterranean soil or fugitive emissions released into the air. No exceptions.

We have come to trust and rely on the practice of licensing for our protection and well-being. Trust is a major component to a quality of life that invites peace and harmony and encourages cooperation and abundance for all.

We do not need more laws regulating industry, we need just one good law that would hold our elected officials responsible for enforcement of the laws.

CalGEM (California Geologic Energy Management Division) reneged on its threat to close all uncertified waste disposal wells and to impose a fine of $25,000 per day, per well on all uncapped wells. The warning was issued in 2017.

I contacted the attorney general about CalGEM's failure to make good on its threats to shut down operators who refused to get UIC certified and was told every time that it is not their job to act on behalf of private citizens.

The governor had the power to order CalGEM to enforce the shutdown but didn't. Former Gov. Jerry Brown failed to keep his promise to keep us safe. He had the power and authority to order his regulatory agencies to enforce the UIC and abandoned well regulations. He chose, as if it was an option, to ignore the violations. You have the same power, Gov. Newsom. What are you going to do with it?

CalGEM said it did not have enough money or resources to enforce the law. I filed three complaints with our grand jury about the noncompliance of local state and federal laws by the Board of Supervisors in violation of the conditional use permit for Sentinel LLC at the AGOF. The complaints were routinely dismissed and disregarded, not for lack of sufficient proof and evidence, but rather dismissed because it was inconvenient and a political hot potato that no one wanted to deal with.

Please tell me what a law-abiding, peace-loving citizen and resident in love with my community and hell-bent on keeping it safe and sound for future generations can do when our elected officials, sworn officers of the state, and leaders we trust and rely on for our safety and well-being disregard, ignore, and dismiss as unimportant our deep-seated safety and health concerns?

Does our Board of Supervisors or the EPA or CalGEM or anyone in our governmental regulatory agencies have a record of what Sentinel is disposing of in our backyard? Underground aquifers and groundwater reservoirs are fair game without an official record. Out of sight out of mind. And no, not one of the above has a record because our elected officials refused on at least five separate occasions to provide this community with an affirmation and verification per a conditional use permit that underground injection control Class I permits were secured by the board.

We delivered more than 80,000 signatures on a petition, had five local municipalities petition our Board of Supervisors to simply enforce the local and state health and safety regulations that would affirm and officially certify that the injection wells were safe. That is all we wanted, the affirmation that the disposal and drilling process would not endanger our lives or livelihood.

It was not our job, responsibility, or duty to prove Sentinel, PXP, Freeport was dumping toxic waste in our backyard and contaminating our air and water. It was in fact the operator's responsibility to prove they were acting in good faith and the process was safe by complying with certification mandated by rules, regulations and codes, and safety laws.

We have a right to know what is going on in our backyard. That is why we have the EPA, CalGEM, state Water Resources Control Board, elected officials, and state agencies to enforce our right to know.

Please, Gov. Newsom, tell me what we can do to ensure the enforcement of these laws. We want to believe you. We want to trust you. Please show us you care by just enforcing the UIC Class I Code of the 12 injection wells and the capping and sealing of the 44 wells at the AGOF. It only takes one successful action to send the message of intent that instills the trust that cements the loyalty and oneness that binds us together for all the right reasons.

Silence is consent. Please listen. Please hear us. We want to see the proof from Sentinel that it has been certified safe according to the UIC Class I permit and the 44 abandoned wells officially capped and sealed. And we want our elected officials held responsible for getting the official verification and proof as a matter of the public record, that Sentinel's waste disposal injection wells have been approved and certified safe. We have a right to know, and the Board of Supervisors has a duty and responsibility to prove it. Δ

Jean'ne Blackwell writes to New Times from San Luis Obispo. Send a letter for publication to [email protected].