News of theWeek
CONT’D
environment
Frack-tured Lines Enviros Want Cyclic Steaming Gone
DAN I EL DREI FUSS / SA NTA M A R I A TI MES
S
BY LY Z H O F F M A N even months and one day removed from a controversial approval of Santa Maria Energy’s 136 cyclic-steam-injection wells, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously last Friday to place a measure on the November ballot that would ban new cyclic-steaming, hydraulic-fracturing, and acidizing operations in the unincorporated areas of the county. Although the four-hour hearing’s conclusion was foregone — it was either put the initiative on the ballot or adopt it outright — its messages echoed those of previous meetings on the divisive issue. Hundreds packed the North County boardroom, splitting among those who supported the ban and those who didn’t. But the speakers tilted strongly in favor of the initiative, imploring Santa Barbara, the birthplace of the environmental movement, to take a leadership position. They spoke more about cyclic steaming than fracking — the former involves pumping heated water into the ground to thin and release the oil, while fracking breaks the rock — and minimized the opposition’s fears about lost jobs and tax revenues but maximized the concerns about the methods’ heavy reliance on water in a time of extreme drought and a continued reliance on fossil fuels in the face of climate change. Supporters donned shirts colored the blue now associated with the Water Guardians, the activist group that gathered 16,000 signatures — 3,000 more than necessary — in a few weeks to qualify the ban for the ballot. For the first time, the group was formally supported by the area’s major environmental players, including the Sierra Club and the Community Environmental Council (CEC). The Environmental Defense Center (EDC) — which has worked in the past with the Bay Area–based law firm Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, whose attorney Rachel Hooper authored the ordinance — also jumped on board and will co-represent the group. But the environmentalists face a long road to November against the oil industry and its employees, who urged the supervisors to consider the measure’s consequences. The bill’s passage would jeopardize existing jobs and kill future jobs in an already money-strapped North County, and it would threaten millions of dollars in property tax revenues for the entire county, they cautioned. They repeatedly reminded the board that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, hasn’t occurred in Santa Barbara in years thanks to the stricter regulations enacted by the supervisors in 2011, which now require all fracking applications to go through the County Planning Commission no matter their size or scope. And, opponents continued, a recently passed state law titled Senate Bill would further monitor the practice starting in 2015. (A draft of the rules under SB , which only the governor’s office can now change, was released on June 17; environmental groups said it includes far too many loopholes.) Bob Poole, the public and government affairs manager for Santa Maria Energy, attended Friday’s hearing and said the Water Guardians were waging a “misinformation
FRACKALICIOUS: An opponent of the fracking ban, Frank Smith listens to public comment.
campaign” to “foment fear and hysteria.” Santa Maria Energy — which pumped more than $60,000 into county races in June — will be joining “industry all across the state,” Poole said, in fighting a likely million-dollar war over this ban. Of the Water Guardians, Poole said, “They’ve got their work cut out for them.” The ordinance would prohibit enhanced extraction methods — most notably fracking, cyclic steaming, and acidizing — but not affect existing projects. The measure’s stipulation that certain future projects could qualify for exemptions presents some issues, many said Friday, as the county would have to deal with those on a case-by-case basis; similar concerns abounded about vested rights. How well-maintenance techniques — which involve routinely treating wells with chemicals to rid them of build-up — would be interpreted under the ordinance also remains fuzzy. According to a presentation from staff, Santa Barbara County’s 1,167 active onshore oil wells produced 4.3 million barrels of oil in 2013, bringing in $16.4 million in property taxes for schools, County Fire, special districts, and the county as a whole. The industry accounts for about 1,950 positions out of the approximately 183,400 jobs countywide — or about one percent of the county’s workforce. The initiative’s economic effects — including opportunities for new business — likely wouldn’t be felt immediately and would depend on the number of projects exempted as well as factors dictated by basic supply and demand. A fiscal-impact statement, likely to also address how increasing funding for county park, building, and road maintenance would be affected by possible diminished revenues, will come in August. While most of the area’s oil wells use traditional drilling, the industry is turning more and more to cyclic steaming, a method used in the county for about 20 years that is more “carbon intensive” than conventional techniques, said Kevin Drude, deputy director of the county’s energy division. Most of the 903 wells coming down his department’s pipeline have proposed that method but haven’t proposed to use pota■ ble water in their operations.
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