Help build resistance to Big Oil’s plan to inject oil field waste into an aquifer in Livermore. State water regulators are preparing to consider a request to exempt the Greenville Sands aquifer from the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. This would allow E & B Natural Resources, owner of six nearby oil wells, to inject their toxic wastewater into the aquifer.
Oil operators across the state are illegally injecting waste into protected California aquifers. The state is in the process of rubber-stamping these operations and attempting to get the aquifers exempted from the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. In order to do so, the state approves an application, then sends it to the EPA for final approval.
The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), which helped lead the successful fight to ban fracking in Alameda County, reports that “The hearing date is not set yet, so now is the time to mobilize and get organized so that we’re ready to demand regulators deny this application . Now is the time to build off Alameda County’s fracking ban and protect our water from becoming a garbage dump for this toxic, greedy industry. There’s a lot we can do right now, including generating media and pressuring our state legislators to demand state regulators deny this application.”
Ash Lauth of CBD will host a call on Monday Nov 28, 5:30-6pm to update folks on the situation, outline what the next organizing steps are, and answer questions.
WHEN
Mon Nov 28, 5:30 – 6PM
WHERE
510-982-1079 (no code).
This is a message from the State Water Resources Control Board.
State Water Resources Control Board staff, in consultation with San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board staff (collectively Water Boards staff), have reviewed the aquifer exemption proposal provided on June 24, 2016 by the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) for the expansion of the aquifer exemption for the Greenville Sands Member of the Cierbo Formation (Greenville Sands) in the Livermore Oil Field. Pursuant to California Public Resources Code (PRC) section (§) 3131, Water Boards staff assessed whether the proposal conforms to the criteria set forth in § 146.4 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and other criteria set forth in PRC § 3131. Pending the public comment process, State Water Board staff preliminarily concurs with the exemption proposal. In conjunction with the evaluation of current and future underground injection control (UIC) projects in the proposed exemption area, DOGGR and Water Boards staff will consider incorporating conditions into project approvals.
When information on the public comment process becomes available, a separate lyris will be submitted and the information will be posted on the following website:
http://www.conservation.ca.gov/dog/Pages/Aquifer_Exemptions.aspx
State Water Board staff concurrence letters for proposed aquifer exemptions are posted on the following website:
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/groundwater/sb4/oil_field_produced/aquifer_exemptions/index.shtml