After tour of massive oil spill, Gov. Newsom calls for answers; critics quick to finger new, lax regulations
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday toured one of the largest oil spills in state history, a nearly one million gallon seep that has gushed into a Chevron oil field west of Bakersfield for two months, and said regulators are pushing hard to uncover the cause.
The seep had released 974,400 gallons of oil and wastewater and had still not been stopped as of late Tuesday.
Most of the oil and sediment is being pumped into trucks by Chevron, and will be separated and possibly sold as crude, for further oil drilling or road overlay, state regulators said. About a third of the seep is crude oil, they estimated. At today's prices of $55 a barrel, that means Chevron could earn upwards of $425,000 off the crude, which is being produced out of seeps that appear to be illegal under current state law.
Newsom, speaking at a local elementary school in the oil-dominated town of McKittrick three miles from the spill, could not be reached by The Desert Sun for questions. But in a briefing there, he said California officials have requested Chevron's data on the cause, and were doing their own investigation. He said regulations might be toughened as a result of the giant spill, but until a cause was verified, he was going to be cautious.
"We just need to find the real, root cause," he said. "We want to learn from this, we need to get to the bottom of this and tighten things up."
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, is briefed by Billy Lacobie, of Chevron, center, and Cameron Campbell, of California department of conservation division of oil, gas, on Wednesday, July 24, 2019 while touring the Chevron oilfield in McKittrick, Calif. Newsom says he is encouraged by Chevron's efforts to clean up what has turned into the state's largest oil spill in decades. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool) (Photo: Irfan Khan, AP)
He noted Chevron's initial's assessment was that the spill began because of problems capping an old well. But a senior environmental attorney told The Desert Sun that a state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources map shows the company had been using steam injection techniques nearby to blast underground formations to extract oil. He said legal caps which banned the risky practice were wrongly lifted in April, when new regulations on oil and gas took effect. State regulators said the new policies were some of the toughest in the nation.
"I drove here, and I fly a lot and I need to be held to that reality, and I think we all do," he said. "I'm standing in a school that was built on this industry."
He said while his bias was well known, and oil companies "are not favored nation status with me," people in the Central Valley and elsewhere should not be left behind by changing energy technologies.
The governor said he was impressed by the monitoring and clean-up efforts he saw on Wednesday, especially since the area around the spill is hazardous.
"This event puts people's lives at risk, the people out there right now. There's certainly a lot of concern around the expression areas, they're dangerous," he said.
Oil workers have perished in California and elsewhere after falling into sinkholes created by drilling and so-called surface expressions, as the seeps are known the industry. Chevron worker Robert Taylor died in 2011 after a Kern County oil field he was crossing opened underneath him, and he was sucked into hot, oily fluids. His body was recovered hours later. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health closed the case after a two-month investigation, finding no violations.
Hollin Kretzmann, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity in Oakland, said a state map shows the current, massive seep was near an active cyclic steam injection well. He said until March, steam pressure injection had to be kept to a level less than the point at which underground formations would fracture. The new regulations, which took effect in April, state that oil and gas regulators may now approve higher pressure injections.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, is briefed by Billy Lacobie, of Chevron, center, and Cameron Campbell, of California department of conservation division of oil, gas, on Wednesday, July 24, 2019, while touring the Chevron oilfield in McKittrick, Calif. Newsom says he is encouraged by Chevron's efforts to clean up what has turned into the state's largest oil spill in decades. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool) (Photo: Irfan Khan, AP)
The public affairs office with the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, commonly known as DOGGR, said last week that the new regulations were the toughest in the country, and that seeps were banned.
"Here are the current regulations, which flatly state "(a) Underground injection projects shall not result in any surface expression," they said in an email.
"Regulations to both prevent and respond to surface expressions were significantly strengthened, not weakened, under California's new regulations for underground injection control," the email said. "Over the last four years, California has put in place regulations for a wide range of oil and gas operations that have been cited as some of the strongest in the nation."
It added, 'the new regulations mitigate the risk of damage from surface expressions by requiring a standardized response program to be implemented consistently, without the need for further action or order from the DOGGR."
Nonetheless, Jason Marshall, acting head of DOGGR, issued notices of violation and ordered to Chevron to immediately contain the seep or face possible heavy fines. Chevron has indicated it may appeal the order, but a senior company advisor said Wednesday they are committed to abiding by the conditions and getting the job done correctly.
"Chevron will continue to work in collaboration with state regulators to resolve this issue and take measures to prevent similar situations in the future. We are working with DOGGR to address the issues outlined in the order," said Sean Comey, Chevron's Senior Advisor for Corporate Issues, Litigation and Financial Communications. "The purpose of the notice of appeal is to clarify specific requirements in the order related to the meaning of certain terms and phrases, and the timing and scope of requested information. We are eager to begin this work, but we want to ensure it is done in full compliance with the regulators' orders."
Newsom recently fired the head of DOGGR after the Desert Sun reported that the fracking permits they issued have doubled since he took office, and that senior agency managers and engineers held shares of stock in major oil companies the agency regulates. He said Wednesday that an investigation into the conflicts of interest and current agency practices is still unfolding, and that changes might be made at a broader level as well.
Kretzmann pointed to another section of the new law, which he called a "carve-out" loophole that allows low energy, low-temperature seeps, provided they are contained, and do not damage health, property or wildlife. Smaller seeps also do not have to be reported to authorities under current state law.
He said "to be sure, the Chevron accident is not a 'low energy seep'" but said state regulators were falsely claiming all of them had been banned. He also said if reporting of smaller seeps was required, it could enable state responders to better understand and help control them.
"Full steam ahead" might be the appropriate summary," said Kretzmann of the revised regulations. "It looks like steam injection is at the root of this dangerous leakage that's still growing and spreading after 10 weeks. This is the direct result of lax regulations, a complicit agency willing to look the other way and an industry that wants every last drop of oil, no matter the cost."
Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, is briefed by Cameron Campbell, of California department of conservation division of oil, gas, and geothermal resources, center, Billy Lacobie, of Chevron, on Wednesday, July 24, 2019, while touring the Chevron oilfield in McKittrick, Calif. Newsom says he is encouraged by Chevron's efforts to clean up what has turned into the state's largest oil spill in decades. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool) (Photo: Irfan Khan, AP)
Kretzmann is part of an alliance of hundreds of environment and public health groups that are pushing for the complete phase-out of oil and gas in California, and for buffers between local homes and schools and active oil extraction in the meantime.
"This disaster should finally end the debate of whether regulations can rein in the oil industry. It's clear we need to start the transition away from oil right now," he said.
Spokesmen for the oil company did not respond to requests for comment on Kretzmann's charges or the potential sale of crude from the spill. They have said for the past two weeks that the leak was reported as soon as it surfaced in May, that they have consistently reported when it has expanded, and that because it was spilling into a dry creek bed and had been contained by a berm, there has been no damage to people or the environment. State Office of Emergency Services officials have confirmed that Chevron correctly reported the event.
Some groups praised Newsom for coming to the site.
"We applaud the Governor for coming to see first-hand the McKittrick spill. (It) goes to show that both the regulated industry and regulators are not meeting their responsibility to protect public health and the environment," said Cesar Aguirre, a Kern County organizer with Central California Environmental Justice Network. "Even after the Governor and his administration requested that action be taken immediately, the spill continued - to what end do you regulate a declining and irresponsible industry?"
He said local communities are concerned about emissions from the spill and other oil industry activity spreading in the air, which can contain dangerous chemicals.
Newsom also said Wednesday that while he was optimistic, it was too soon to say the "surface expression" had been fully contained. It has spread to three different areas, he confirmed.
"We're not out of the woods," he said.
--
Groups.io Links:
You receive all messages sent to this group.
View/Reply Online (#31961) | Reply To Group | Reply To Sender | Mute This Topic | New Topic
Your Subscription | Contact Group Owner | Unsubscribe [volcanomadness1@gmail.com]
No comments:
Post a Comment