California: Hundreds
of illicit oil wastewater pits found in Kern County
26
February, 2015
Water
officials in Kern County discovered that oil producers have been
dumping chemical-laden wastewater into hundreds of unlined pits that
are operating without proper permits.
Inspections
completed this week by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality
Control Board revealed the existence of more than 300 previously
unidentified waste sites. The water board’s review found that more
than one-third of the region’s active disposal pits are operating
without permission.
The
pits raise new water quality concerns in a region where agricultural
fields sit side by side with oil fields and where California’s
ongoing drought has made protecting groundwater supplies paramount.
Clay Rodgers, assistant executive officer of the water board’s Fresno
office, called the unregulated pits a “significant problem” and
said the agency expects to issue as many as 200 enforcement orders.
State
regulators face federal scrutiny for what critics say has been
decades of lax oversight of the oil and gas industry and fracking
operations in particular. The Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal
Resources has admitted that for years it allowed companies to inject
fracking wastewater into protected groundwater aquifers, a problem
they attributed to a history of chaotic record-keeping.
“The
state doesn’t seem to be willing to put the protection of
groundwater and water quality ahead of the oil industry being able to
do business as usual,” said Andrew Grinberg of the group Clean
Water Action.
The
pits — long, shallow troughs gouged out of dirt — hold water that
is produced from fracking and other oil drilling operations. The
water forced out of the ground during oil operations is heavily
saline and often contains benzene and other naturally occurring but
toxic compounds.
Regional
water officials said they believe that none of the pits in the county
have linings that would prevent chemicals from seeping into
groundwater beneath them. Some of the pits also lack netting or
covers to protect migrating birds or other wildlife.
Currently, linings for pits are not required, though officials said they will consider requiring them in the future. Covers are mandated in some instances.
The
pits are a common site on the west side of Bakersfield’s oil patch.
In some cases, waste facilities contain 40 or more pits, arranged in
neat rows. Kern County accounts for at least 80% of California’s
oil production.
The
facilities are close to county roads but partially hidden behind
earthen berms. At one pit this week, waves of heat rose from newly
dumped water, and an acrid, petroleum smell hung in the air.
Rodgers
said Thursday that the agency’s review found 933 pits, or sumps, in
Kern County. Of those, 578 are active and 355 are not currently used.
Of
the active pits, 370 have permits to operate and 208 do not. All of
the pits have now been inspected, he said.
The
possible existence of hundreds of unpermitted pits came to light when
regional water officials compared their list of pit operators to a
list compiled by the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources.
The oil regulator’s list contained at least 300 more waste pits
than water officials had permitted, Rodgers said.
His
staff began inspecting the wastewater sites in April. Initial testing
of water wells has not revealed any tainted water, he said.
More
than 2,000 pits have been dredged over decades of oil operations in
Kern County,according to water board records. Oil field companies
have not always properly disposed of water, Rodgers said. As recently
as the 1980s, it was customary to dump wastewater into drainage
canals that line the San Joaquin Valley’s agricultural fields.
But
using unlined pits to dispose of wastewater is becoming less common.
Some states ban the practice, and many in the oil and gas industry do
not consider it effective.
The
water board’s long-term plan to address the problem includes
requiring remediation of some abandoned pits so that contaminants
left behind don’t pollute the air, Rodgers said.
In
pits located near clean water sources, Rodgers said, operators will
be required to install monitor wells to test water quality. The
companies will pay for the testing and provide the results to water
officials.
The
water board will publish a series of general orders that he said will
more tightly control the operation of wastewater pits.
“Our
goal is to protect water quality,” Rodgers said. “Our goal is not
to shut anybody down, but by the same token, they do not own the
waters beneath them. Those waters are for the public good.”
Meanwhile, in another part of the country
26
February, 2015
A
Daniels, WV man who admitted to conspiring to violate the Clean Water
Act has been sentenced to 21 months in prison.
John
W. Shelton, 47, an employee of Appalachian Labs, admitted he and
other employees tampered with water samples to make them appear to be
within permissible levels of pollutants.
Shelton
told the court he diluted samples by adding distilled water and
substituted water samples from an area they called the "honeyhole,"
so named because samples from that spot were always within
permissible limits.
Each
time samples were dilutes or water was substituted, Shelton allowed
excessive pollutants to be discharged from mining operations into
adjacent rivers and creeks, U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said.
Shelton
also admitted that from 2008-2013, he and other Appalachian
Laboratory employees compromised the integrity of samples by keeping
them in their trucks all day, instead of on ice as is required. He
said they would put the samples on ice in coolers on days they knew
inspectors would be on site, to make it appear that it was their
normal routine.
Shelton
was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Irene C. Berger. His case was
investigated by the FBI and the Environmental Protection Agency's
Criminal Investigation Division.
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