Officials have uncovered more than 200 incidents of fracking off the coast of California following media reports this summer that exposed the illegal practice for the first time.
In July, the news outlet Truthout reported that fracking, a process which shoots water, sand and chemicals into the ground to extract oil and natural gas, was taking place in California waters. The report, which was followed by an Associated Press investigation, was a bombshell for the California Coastal Commission, which said it wasn’t aware the practice was occurring.
Since the issue has been brought to the surface, officials have uncovered evidence of more than 200 additional instances of fracking at offshore sites, according to AllGov California, which monitors more than 140 of the state’s departments and agencies.
A report released this month by the Environmental Defense Center (EDC) also takes a deep dive into the offshore fracking industry, exposing new cases of offshore fracking operations, some of which have persisted for years.
As noted by the EDC, the documented cases of fracking in California waters have occurred on rigs that have a history of oil spills. The report also indicates those fracking operations are positioned near the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.
Traditional methods of drilling for oil in California waters are legal, which is how oil companies worked their way into the Pacific. According to documents obtained by Truthout, oil and gas exploration companies DCOR LL and Venoco filed for permits with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for open water oil drilling operations. The permits were granted, although they did not give permission for underwater fracking operations.
Venoco’s website, however, paints a different picture, claiming that, in all cases, it acts in accordance with the proper permitting process.
“We operate in areas with extensive environmental regulations such as in and around the Santa Barbara Channel as well as in prime agricultural areas such as the Sacramento Basin,” the company’s site states.
According to Kassie Siegal, senior counsel for the Center for Biological Diversity, the act of offshore fracking is illegal, as the companies did not conduct an environmental impact statement before allegedly conducting the fracking operation.
Revelations regarding the illegal coastal fracking come in the midst of a statewide debate on land-based fracking. In September, the legislature passed a bill to regulate the fracking industry, although it does not take effect until 2015.
The bill has drawn criticism from environmentalists and farmers, who claim a moratorium should be put on the practice until its full environmental impact is understood. The bill also allows the chemical makeup of fracking fluid to be kept private under the guise of a “trade secret.”