Regulators in California, the country’s third-largest oil-producing state, have authorized oil companies to inject production fluids and waste into what are now federally protected aquifers more than 2,500 times, risking contamination of underground water supplies that could be used for drinking water or irrigation, state records show.
While some of the permits go back decades, an Associated Press analysis found that nearly half of those injection wells — 46 percent — were permitted or began injection in the last four years under Gov. Jerry Brown, who has pushed state oil and gas regulators to speed up the permitting process. And it happened despite warnings from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency since 2011 that state regulators were failing to do enough to shield groundwater reserves from the threat of oilfield pollution.
In California, “we need a big course correction. We need to get the system back in compliance,” said Jared Blumenfeld, regional administrator for the EPA. “Californians expect their water is not being polluted by oil producers … This poses that very real danger.”
The injections are convenient to oil companies because drilling brings up 13 gallons of wastewater for every gallon of petroleum. And one of the easiest disposal methods is simply to send that waste back underground.
For some of the permits, “we don’t know how this got approved,” said Jason Marshall, deputy director of the California Department of Conservation, which directly regulates the state’s oil and gas industry.
So far, state officials say they have no evidence of water contamination. But worries persist.
Over the summer, state oil and gas regulators sent the EPA lists of permits that allow oil companies to inject waste or production fluid into aquifers that were protected by the federal government. In December, the EPA gave the state until Feb. 6 to draft a plan for halting the practice and bringing the state into compliance with the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act. The state has until 2017 to stop injections into any aquifer that has not been specifically designated for oil-industry waste disposal or drilling.
Officials are determined to both “manage the transition” back into compliance with federal law and to “maintain a robust oil industry,” said Steve Bohlen, head of oil, gas and geothermal resources for the California Department of Conservation.
Of the 2,553 injection wells that the state has identified as risking contamination of protected aquifers, 1,172 were approved by the state or began injection in the last four years since Brown took office, according to state records. Marshall said he believes the number in those years is actually lower than the records show, but the state does not know how much lower.
“We know our data has problems,” he added.
Brown is a leading supporter of solar, wind and other renewable energy. But the Democratic governor has also supported tapping California’s oil reserves.