Fran Pavley, the California state senator best known for authoring a global warming measure in our state in 2006, who represents much of Ventura County, was the first speaker at a two-day conference on hydraulic fracturing (aka fracking) organized by the American Groundwater Trust in Agoura.
Pavley now is carrying SB 4, a comprehensive bill designed to regulate fracking in California. Hers is the only bill still standing on the issue in this year's legislative session. Here's what she said (in part)
I'm a former middle school teacher, which prepared me for work in the state legislature.
Water supply in California is critical, and that's why I got involved in this issue. From a legislative perspective, I'm concerned about the consequences and the impacts of any activity that jeopardizes the safety of the water supply in California. In 2011, after Gasland first came out, I sent a letter to DOGGR (the state agency that oversees the oil industry in California) asking some basic questions. Where does the water used in fracking come from? They weren't able to answer that. What chemicals were used? They had no requirement to track that. How is the wastewater disposed of? They had no record.
These are the concerns of the public, and this is the role of the government, to protect public safety, to protect the enviroment and our water supply. We must balance that against the role of petroleum. In a state of 28 million cars and trucks, we use a lot of this resource.
It's becoming obvious that the oil companies have not been able to quell the growing concern and skepticism about fracking. It's not just a few activists. I can go to into rooms of Rotary Clubs and Chamers of Commerce and I hear the same questions. People have their own perceptions, but everyone wants to make sure of the safety of our groundwater.
Building on this increased public awareness, I introduced SB 4, which is a broad comprehensive approach. I spent a year working collaboratively with administrators, oil companies, environmental groups, and local government putting this bill together. SB 4 creates transparency, accountability. The truth is that if we can't answer the basic questions, if there's a deep and broad problem with fracking, we want to know. The status quo is not acceptable, everyone agrees to that.
[Pavley discussed the details of the bill, which include notification of all residents surrounding sites to be fracked ahead of time, a list of chemicals used, what is being done with the wastewater, understandings between state agencies on how best to regulate air and water issues, a requirement to report where the water used to frack comes from, and research components.]
I look forward to having resolution this year, and even my old industry friends and colleagues know that they need to prove to the public that that there's not a problem with fracking and acidizing wells, or there will be an voter's initiative.
Folks I talked to at the conference expressed concern — will the bill survive? What if the oil companies try to kill it? Where is the Brown administration on the issue? A lot of Californians' hopes ride on SB 4.
Kit Stolz 