And in Alameda County, the Board of Supervisors is expected to vote in July on a fracking ban measure finally passed by the Planning Commission after two years of debate.
Hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – is a process of extracting oil or gas by using high pressure to blast a mixture of water and industrial chemicals – many of them toxic — into rock. In addition to creating air pollution, threatening the water supply, and damaging the health of people who live nearby, the process uses large amounts of water and has been shown to increase the risk of earthquakes.
The oil industry decided not to contest the ban in Butte County, according to the San Jose Mercury News, but has vowed to fight the Monterey measure. Monterey is the fourth largest oil-producing county in the state, with about 1,200 existing oil wells. The ballot measure would allow them to continue operating but would ban any new oil or gas wells in the county, along with fracking. In addition, the measure would ban new wastewater injection wells and wastewater pools, which threaten drinking water, and phase out the ones now in use. There is no fracking now in Monterey County, but residents fear a rise in oil prices could spark new efforts to frack oil from the Monterey shale.
The Butte County measure is not a permanent ban on fracking, but a moratorium until further research can be done and the county can adopt regulations to satisfy all concerned. According to the Balletpedia website, “Water Commissioner Ryan Schohr, however, was doubtful that the moratorium would ever be lifted. He said, ‘Essentially it would be a complete ban. By the nature of it, some of those hydrocarbons may be considered unsafe by somebody.’”
The Butte and Monterey county efforts are part of a county-by-county strategy to win a statewide ban on fracking. The Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to ban fracking in May 2014, and voters approved fracking bans in San Benito and Mendocino counties in November the same year. Advocates adopted this strategy after years of unsuccessful efforts to persuade Governor Jerry Brown to ban fracking. The Mercury News quoted Monterey anti-fracking activist Mary Hsia-Coron saying, “We think that lobbying Governor Brown is a waste of time. It’s really a grass-roots effort.”
In New York State a similar strategy — passing local fracking bans — eventually led Governor Andrew Cuomo to declare a statewide ban in 2014.