Supervisors Split 3-2 In Favor of Regulating 'Fracking'

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday split 3-2 in favor of proposed state regulation of hydraulic fracturing to access oil and natural gas, known as "fracking."

Senate Bill 4, sponsored by State Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, seeks a study of pumping a slurry into wells at high pressure to crack rock formations and release trapped oil and gas deposits. The bill also seeks to establish regulation of the practice.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency is prohibited from regulating hydraulic fracking under the 2005 Safe Drinking Water Act.

"The state Legislature and Gov. Brown now have the opportunity to appropriately regulate fracking and protect public health and safety," Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said in calling on his colleagues to support Pavley's bill.

On hearing the supervisors' 3-2 decision, which included support from Mark Ridley Thomas (who represents the 2nd District, which covers Culver City), Zev Yaroslavsky (3rd District) and Gloria Molina (1st District) Culver City Mayor Andy Weissman told Patch he was pleased with the vote.

"I am pleased the Board supported efforts at regulation," Weissman said. "Culver City is on record in support of responsible and meaningful regulations on oil drilling, including the practice of fracking, that protect the health and safety of the community and the environment. We anxiously wait to see what actions the Governor, legislature and regulating agencies take to ensure our safety. Senator Pavley's bill at minimum would mandate water quality testing, an independent study to address health and safety issues and direct DOGGR to adopt fracking regulations. I hope DOGGR (the state's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources), which was in Culver City last June to hear the concerns from the community about the practice and the need for regulation will act quickly regardless of what happens with the Pavley bill.

Culver City Vice Mayor Jeff Cooper was also pleased with the supervisors' vote, but told Patch he would have liked to have seen all five supervisors agree on the issue.

"I am happy that the board of supervisors has acted in what should have been a unanimous vote to encourage the state to develop long overdue regulations in regards to hydraulic fracturing," Cooper said.

Opponents of hydraulic fracking, which was first begun in the late 1940s, are worried about groundwater contamination the possibility of triggering a seismic event, among other things.

Proponents of the technology say it vastly expands access to natural gas, offers a path to energy independence and creates jobs without harming the environment.

An engineer for the county's Department of Public Works said there was little information available about the effects of fracking on groundwater supplies.

As Mayor Weissman noted, above, Pavley's bill would mandate water quality testing and an independent study to address health and safety issues raised by opponents of fracking. It would also direct DOGGR to adopt regulations by Jan. 1, 2015, requiring oil companies to disclose what fluids they use in fracking, while providing trade secret protection for the chemical formulas for slurries.

Supervisor Michael Antonovich said he wasn't prepared to support the legislation without more information.

"We need to [know] what other states are doing," Antonovich said, adding that North Dakota is reaping an economic windfall from fracking. "How does it impact the city of Long Beach?"

Supervisor Don Knabe, who represents the Fourth District that includes Long Beach, said he had backed an earlier draft of Pavley's bill but could not support it in its current form.

The county's lobbyists in Sacramento were directed to push for passage of Pavley's bill and other legislation with the same aims. Antonovich and Knabe were the dissenting votes.