Almost 3 billion gallons of oil industry wastewater have been
illegally dumped into central California aquifers that supply drinking
water and farming irrigation, according to state documents obtained by
the Center for Biological Diversity. The wastewater entered the
aquifers through at least nine injection disposal wells used by the oil industry to dispose of waste contaminated with fracking fluids and other pollutants.
The documents also reveal that Central Valley Water Board testing found high levels of arsenic, thallium and nitrates — contaminants sometimes found in oil industry wastewater — in water-supply wells near these waste-disposal operations. “Clean water is one of California’s most crucial
resources, and these documents make it clear that state regulators have
utterly failed to protect our water from oil industry pollution,” said
Hollin Kretzmann, a Center attorney. “Much more testing is needed to
gauge the full extent of water pollution and the threat to public
health. But Governor Brown should move quickly to halt fracking to ward
off a surge in oil industry wastewater that California simply isn’t
prepared to dispose of safely.”
The state’s Water Board confirmed
beyond doubt that at least nine wastewater disposal wells have been
injecting waste into aquifers that contain high-quality water that is
supposed to be protected under federal and state law. Thallium is an extremely toxic chemical commonly used in
rat poison. Arsenic is a toxic chemical that can cause cancer. Some
studies show that even low-level exposure to arsenic in drinking water
can compromise the immune system’s ability to fight illness.
“Arsenic and thallium are extremely dangerous chemicals,”
said Timothy Krantz, a professor of environmental studies at the
University of Redlands. “The fact that high concentrations are showing
up in multiple water wells close to wastewater injection sites raises
major concerns about the health and safety of nearby residents.”
Comments?
Documents Reveal Billions of Gallons of Oil Industry Wastewater Illegally Injected Into Central California Aquifers
Personally, I find the illegal dumping of roughly 3 billion gallons of oil industry wastewater into central California aquifers to be appalling. Not only does it defy the Safe Drinking Water Act, but it also exposes several people to extremely toxic chemicals like thallium and arsenic- chemicals found in rat poison and known to possibly cause cancer. I just don’t understand how these negative externalities could have been produced without the slightest concern towards potential human deaths. Additionally, California experiences several droughts. With water being essential, why contaminate its limited supply? Overall, I find the dumping to be an incredibly poor decision. I hope action is taken against those responsible for the pollution of the aquifers and that the negative externalities can be reversed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Querubin that dumping 3 billion gallons of oil industry wastewater into central California aquifers is an incredibly decision and it is a human crime. "Clean water is one of California’s most crucial resources, and these documents make it clear that state regulators have utterly failed to protect our water from oil industry pollution." The state regulators have failed to protect its people and the planet. Who knows how long it would take for the ecosystem to be back to the original state, who knows how many people would be suffering from the polluted water. There should be actions taken to punish those irresponsible industry for what they have done.
ReplyDeleteOne of the main concerns with oil extraction has typically been that we will over-consume oil as an energy source now, before the earth can naturally reproduce it for future use. However, with fracking comes an even greater concern: the contamination of our water supply.
ReplyDeleteAs the article states, "While the current extent of contamination is cause for grave concern, the long-term threat posed by the unlawful wastewater disposal may be even more devastating." Water is absolutely crucial to our longterm survival as humans. There are many places now that do not have access to clean water, and there are some who expect water access to be a growing problem. It has been a while since I watched the documentary, but Blue Gold goes as far as to hypothesize that water will be the root cause of future wars. While it does not look strictly at water contamination and scarcity in relation to the oil industry, I think that the documentary has a very interesting take on what water as a private good means for a wide range of people globally.
Here's the link to the documentary in full on YouTube, in case anyone is interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWGzzSG-fVM. Or I think that it is also available (in higher quality) on Netflix.
I highly doubt that the company was unaware of the effects that would be caused by dumping their pollutants into the water. This is troublesome because we expect that the company should make the decision based on the expected outcome (prob. of being caught * fine vs. cost of correct disposal). Since it is doubtful that one company would have cleaning technology that is much farther advanced than others, meaning that other companies in the industry are likely also making this decision and have yet to be caught. I hope that this is not the case, but I worry that companies are causing large negative externalities that society is still unaware of and will have to spend large sums of money to fix.
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