Oil Companies are fracking off our coast and in some cases simply discharging their chemically polluted wastewater into the Santa Barbara Channel. Yesterday EDC released a new report entitled DIRTY WATER: FRACKING OFFSHORE CALIFORNIA, in which we describe how for more than 20 years, the federal government has been asleep at the switch while fracking and other forms of well stimulation have been conducted from platforms in the fragile waters off the south central coast. Hydraulic fracturing or fracking, involves forcing a mixture of water, sand and chemicals down a well at extremely high pressures to shatter rock and release oil and gas. This risky practice has been in the news a great deal this year while Sacramento debated increased environmental protections from onshore fracking. But EDC’s report provides the first comprehensive look at the dangers associated with using these technologies off shore. In DIRTY WATER: FRACKING OFFSHORE CALIFORNIA EDC demonstrates the remarkable lack of federal oversight of fracking and draws clear parallels between what is taking place off our shores today and the situations that lead to the 1969 Santa Barbara Oil Spill and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. EDC also identifies a series of concrete recommendations to help ensure the health of our channel, our communities and all the creatures that share our fragile coastal waters. I hope you will take a look and then join us in the effort to ensure the federal government takes action to protect our threatened coastal waters
Posted on: Thu, 17 Oct 2013 23:49:24 +0000