The U.S Department of the Interior reached an agreement with two separate environmental organizations to suspend approvals for offshore fracking operations on platforms adjacent to California’s coast while it evaluates the dangers posed to the environment and wildlife by these practices.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a technique for stimulating oil and gas production that entails injecting large amounts of water, sand and toxic chemicals deep into the earth’s surface through a high pressure mechanism. Fracking allows for the dismantling of rock formations to facilitate the extraction of oil. Fracking has been performed in 10 California counties, in additions to wells off California’s coast. In high oil-producing counties in California, such as Kern County, 50-60% of oil wells are accessed through fracking.
Environmentalists have been outspoken about this controversial procedure, which releases a host of toxic chemicals into the drinking water supply and atmosphere. California’s coast hosts several oil platforms that are permitted to dump nine billion gallons of wastewater into the Pacific Ocean annually. These deposits include fracking chemicals which have been linked to the death or injury of several marine species.
One of the agencies which brokered this agreement, the Environmental Defense Center (EDC) of Santa Barbara, produced documentation verifying that fracking was being performed on offshore sites without the knowledge or approval of federal regulators. Subsequent to this discovery, EDC initiated a lawsuit to contest 53 permits that sanctioned offshore fracking at six separate offshore platforms. In a settlement agreement with EDC, the Department of the Interior was appointed to investigate and assess the harmful environmental effects of the fracking activity pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. The federal government is prohibited from issuing new permits for fracking off California’s coast until the completion of its environmental analysis.
EDC is hopeful that the federal government’s public evaluation of these oil drilling techniques will lead to the adoption of a regulatory scheme that is significantly more responsive to the significant risks posed by fracking.
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