Center for Race, Poverty and the Environment
BREAKING NEWS: Kern County resident Rodrigo Romo is suing Governor Jerry Brown on behalf of his daughters, who attend schools surrounded by fracking wells. The lawsuit, filed by CRPE, argues that California's new fracking regulations illegally discriminate against Latino public school children.
DELANO, CA Today, a Kern County family is suing Governor Jerry Brown, claiming that California's new fracking regulations do not protect the health of Latino public school children. The lawsuit, filed by the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, argues the new fracking regulations illegally discriminate against Latino public school children, who are disproportionately affected by the negative impacts of fracking in their neighborhoods.
California's Government Code section 11135 prohibits the state from intentional or unintentional discrimination on the basis of race. The suit, which names Governor Brown and California Oil and Gas Supervisor Steve Bohlen as defendants, claims that the state is discriminating against Latino students by permitting wells in close proximity to schools they attend.
Fracking in California overwhelmingly occurs close to schools that serve predominately Latino populations. More than sixty percent of the 61,612 California children who attend school within one mile of a stimulated well are Latino. Statewide, Latino students are over eighteen percent more likely to attend a school within a mile and a half of a stimulated well than non-Latino students.
Although they were intended to protect the public from the negative health impacts of fracking, the newly implemented regulations fail to address the inherent danger of allowing such practices to occur within close range of sensitive receptors, such as homes and schools. When fracking occurs close to schools, students are exposed to air toxins such as BTEX compounds, VOCs, and Hydrogen Sulfide that have serious impacts on their physical, social and emotional health.
Mr. Romo's daughters attend elementary school in close proximity to 3 fracking wells with one well less than 1,200 feet from the school. Often the schools children are kept indoors all day due to noxious fumes and many of the schools students suffer from serious, unexplained illnesses which parents think may be due to the wells.
Only major presidential candidate to support a ban on fracking is Bernie Sanders and in fact, Bernie was instrumental in forwarding the fracking ban in Vermont.