Over the past decade, oil companies have fracked about half of the new oil wells drilled in California, or about 18,000 to 30,000 of the new oil wells drilled each year. Since a catastrophic oil leak in 1969 from a platform in Santa Barbara, the state has not issued new leases for offshore oil and gas development. However, there are still 29 active platforms remaining based on leases issued before 1969. The application of fracking in California differs from elsewhere in the US in two important ways. First, wells in California are most often stimulated to produce oil, not natural gas. Second, fracking in California tends to occur in shallower, vertical wells at depths of less than 2000 feet. Fracking has come under increased scrutiny in recent years, particularly in response to a series of reports indicating that California might soon see a huge shale oil bloom.
California possesses two thirds of the country’s proven oil reserves, a volume equivalent to more than 75 years worth of production at current levels. This would result in thousands of new wells drilled each year, potentially in water-scarce areas where there had not been oil and gas extraction in the past. We have to think beyond ourselves and realize that oil is not as necessary as water. Early estimates of the oil production potential of the Monterey Shale proved to be over-optimistic and it no longer seems that California is on the verge of a new oil boom enabled by fracking.
One of the main pollutants released in the fracking process is methane. Research indicates the California oil and gas industry emits 13 million metric tons of methane annually, for a leak rate of 2.3 percent of all production. Methane is a major greenhouse gas. Its global warming potential is 84 times that of carbon dioxide on a 20-year horizon, and 25 times on a 100-year horizon.
On a national and state level, the fracking process uses billions of gallons of water each year. On a local level, the median value of water consumed is 1.5 million gallons per well, according to the EPA. This consumption reduces the amount of fresh water available to nearby residents, particularly areas where water availability is low. When water is not available to fracking sites locally, it may be transported from other regions, ultimately drawing down available water from lakes and rivers across the country.
In addition to water and air pollution, fracking can have long term effects on the soil and surrounding vegetation. The high salinity of wastewater spills can reduce the soil’s ability to support plant life. Even though fracking has the potential to provide more oil and gas resources to consumers, the process of extraction has long-lasting negative impacts on the surrounding environment. Air pollution and water contamination due to the toxic chemicals used in fracking are the highest concerns with fracking sites. With our health in mind, we should ban fracking in California and everywhere else.
