Environment California Acknowledges EPA Offshore Fracking Rules, Calls on Governor to Ban Fracking Statewide

Environment California

Sacramento—The Environmental Protection Agency has announced new rules for offshore fracking in California. Oil and gas companies will soon be required to report the fracking chemicals they discharge into the ocean. Nathan Weaver, Oceans Advocate with Environment California, issued the following statement:

“Fracking is an environmental nightmare for California. This dirty drilling pollutes our air and water, turns beautiful places into industrial zones, and threatens California’s leadership towards solving global warming. While I am encouraged by EPA’s attention to this issue, these new disclosure rules are only a first step towards protecting California from fracking.

“Loopholes in the Clean Water Act severely restrict what EPA can do to stop fracking. The only way to fully protect California from fracking is for Governor Brown and the California Coastal Commission to stand up to the oil companies. I urge Governor Brown to ban fracking statewide, and I urge the California Coastal Commission to do everything in its power to stop offshore fracking.

“EPA’s rule would only require oil and gas companies to disclose information about fracking chemicals discharged into the ocean. We already have more than enough information to know that fracking is an environmental nightmare for California.

“Environment California Research & Policy Center’s report ‘Fracking by the Numbers’ helps us estimate the dangers of bringing fracking to California. National trends on fracking damage indicate that by 2020, the potential impact of fracking on California would be immense:

• With a conservative estimate of 25,000 fracked wells, California could expect to lose up to 76 billion gallons of water to dirty drilling.
• At 50,000 fracked wells, 220,000 acres, or almost the size of Channel Islands National Park, would be directly damaged.
• This level of drilling would be the greenhouse gas equivalent of adding 12.5 million passenger vehicles to the road.

 “The threat of offshore fracking is just one more reason why we need to ban fracking statewide. No regulation can make fracking California safe and we know it is an environmental nightmare that is coming to California.”

Environment California is a statewide, citizen-funded, environmental advocacy organization that works for clean air, clean water, and open space.
www.EnvironmentCalifornia.org