cross-posted at annoyedomnivore.wordpress.com
For two decades farmers in California’s Central Valley have been buying water from the Chevron Kern River oil field, which is currently the 5th largest oil field in the country. The water being purchased is oil production wastewater. The field is located in the San Joaquin Valley, where oil was discovered in 1899, and covers 10,750 acres. Since most of the oil has been removed from the field, Chevron has moved to use “enhanced production technologies” to extract the remaining oil, such as fracking, acidizing and cyclic steam injection. By some estimates, these production methods use approximately 2.14 million gallons of water every day. After production, this wastewater has nowhere to go. According to Rock Zierman, the chief executive officer of the California Independent Petroleum Association, “if we’re not able to put the water back, there’s no other viable thing to do with it.” But in league with corporate agriculture, Chevron has been selling the water to be used for crop irrigation as a “viable alternative.”
Aside from the fact that Governor Jerry Brown did not include the oil industry in his statewide clampdown on the overall use of water, and that he continues to allow all extraction methods that poison existing water sources, the composition of chemicals in the wastewater is what is concerning many environmentalists, small farmers and state regulators. The chemical composition of the wastewater did not overly concern regulatory agencies in the past, but with the drought continuing, there’s more call for water recycling programs, which has caused increased concern over contamination of fresh water sources as well as the potential toxic effect on the crops themselves. Standards for testing wastewater have been lax and outdated – screening for chemicals has never occurred. The EPA has reported that there are nearly 700 chemicals used in the fracking process alone, and the majority of these chemicals are not being disclosed by the industry. The Central Valley water authority, however, promoted new regulations, which were approved by the state legislators, that will require oil companies to reveal what chemicals are being used.
Of the chemicals known now to be used in various oil extraction processes, however, are acetone,methylene chloride and benzene. All of these chemicals have been found in the wastewater as well as the presence of oil. Scott Smith, a scientist at Water Defense, an environmental group founded in 2010, says that “all these chemicals of concern are flowing in the irrigation canal; if you were a gas station and were spilling these kinds of chemicals into the water, you would be shut down and fined.” Smith has been testing the water that flows into the Cawelo Canal, an eight mile stretch that is used to irrigate 45,000 acres of crops. The water from the Kern River oil field is first passed through a series of treatment ponds before irrigation use, but Smith’s testing revealed this process to be ineffective. One sample he took from the canal had levels of methylene chloride at 56 parts per billion, which was four times the amount of methylene chloride he found when the Arkansas river was polluted by the 2013 ExxonMobile tar sands pipeline spill. Smith also collected samples containing acetone.
Farmers can smell petrochemicals in the water, and assume the soil is consuming and processing the chemicals, but no one really knows. Carl Winter, who studies the detection of pesticides in foods at UC Davis, says that “some plants can readily absorb toxins without transferring them to the leaves or the flesh of their fruit, but that it’s difficult to say anything for sure because we don’t know what chemicals are in the water.” In total, Kern County produces over $3.5 billion worth of agricultural products annually, much of which are irrigated with Chevron wastewater. What little is known about the detected chemicals’ effects on crops is alarming and unstudied.
That we’re once again experimenting on human beings and the land in order to accommodate the oil industry is unacceptable. Given the huge impact the drought has had on California agriculture, however, it’s reasonable to expect drastic measures. A significant part of the state’s revenue comes from agriculture, as well as that provided by livestock, all of which need water. California grows over 200 crops, some of which are grown nowhere else in the country, and produces almost all of the country’s almonds, apricots, figs, dates, kiwi fruit, nectarines, olives, pistachios, prunes and walnuts. It leads in the production of avocados, grapes, lemons, melons, peaches, plums, strawberries, broccoli, carrots, asparagus and on and on and on. It’s crucial these crops are maintained, but at the very least some regulation and testing must occur to prevent their wholesale destruction, as well as preventing yet another means of potentially harming human health.
Recipe of the Week
I was appalled to learn that many people use additives like mayonnaise when making guacamole. Since you may not be able to purchase avocados in the future, make this very simple one now and enjoy.
1 large, ripe avocado
2 tbls. minced sweet onion
juice from one lime
salt to taste
Mash it all up and serve with chips or fresh vegetables.