A quiet coup has been perpetrated in the state of California by the oil industry. Governor Jerry Brown, the Democrat governor who is supposedly in favor of protecting the environment, has shown a clear willingness in recent months to participate in one of the most blatant examples of crony capitalism/democracy in recent state history. In November 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported that Brown fired Derek Chernow, then head of the Department of Conservation, as well as Chernow's deputy, Elena Miller, after they generated a memo highly critical of an oil extraction method called underground injection, otherwise known as fracking. The process was put under a microscope in 2011 after an oil company worker died in Kern county from falling into a boiling cesspool of fracking discharge.
By way of background, according to the Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC), which calls itself the “national association of state groundwater agencies,” underground injection is a process whereby water and chemicals are injected into oil wells to recover otherwise unrecoverable oil. Underground injection wells used to recover oil are called “Class II” wells by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
EPA mildly describes the dangers of Class II underground injection wells:
When oil and gas are extracted, large amounts of brine are typically brought to the surface. Often saltier than seawater, this brine can also contain toxic metals and radioactive substances. It can be very damaging to the environment and public health if it is discharged to surface water or the land surface.
While the dangers are substantial, the potential profits for the oil companies are too staggering to resist. The GWPC explains that in New Mexico alone, over 13 million barrels of oil were recovered by underground injection--oil that would have been otherwise impossible to recover. With oil prices fluctuating between $80-106 a barrel, this constitutes billions of dollars in profit, from New Mexico alone.
With the money stakes clearly defined, it is easy to see why Brown pushed Chernow to relax the regulations in 2011. But after Chernow generated the memo concluding that relaxing regulations would violate federal laws, Brown had mud on his face. Shortly thereafter, Brown fired Chernow and his deputy, and installed Mark Nechodom, who of course quickly sided with Brown and dramatically reduced the heightened scrutiny that had been placed on underground injection operators after the accident in Kern county.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a watchdog organization that largely focuses on California policy, has been mystified in recent days by the state government's capitulation to the oil industry. The group notes:
The state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources says it does not plan to monitor or manage use of the technology unless the legislature requires it or the agency is handed “evidence of manifest damage and harm.”
“On the one hand, the Division remains in denial about fracking for oil,” said Bill Allayaud, EWG’s director of government affairs for California. “On the other hand, they ask for and receive funding to regulate it and then don’t do it – and have no plans to do it.”
After the dust settled in 2011, the full picture began to emerge. In January 2012,
The Times reported that Occidental Petroleum made a $250,00 contribution to Brown, which will be used to fund Brown’s effort to win voter approval for a ballot measure to raise taxes.
In return for the hush money, the oil companies are getting their wish. The Bakersfield Califorrnian confirms that the state is now reducing its oversight and scrutiny of underwater injection operators. Kern county, where Bakersfield is located, is responsible for 10% of ALL domestic oil production. In one example of the wild west mentality now being employed to regulate the oil companies in California, The Californian points to one company overjoyed by news that it will only have to conduct mechanical integrity testing once every five years, whereas mechanical integrity testing was previously required once a year.
Shares of Berry Petroleum Co., the company cited in the example above, were up significantly on news that state regulators will overlook worker safety and environmental issues that came to light in 2011.
The most despicable news of course is that Governor Brown has sold out on the issue of the environment. Governor Brown is quite public on what the price tag is for compromising clean ground water, safe oil extraction operations, worker safety, and for prostituting himself out to the highest oil industry bidder: $250,000.
A small price to pay.