Trump administration opened California land to fracking. Now the state is suing
The state of California is suing President Donald Trump’s Bureau of Land Management in an attempt to block the opening of more than 1 million acres of public land to oil and gas drilling, including hydraulic fracturing or fracking.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, seeks to prevent expanded drilling in Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, and Ventura counties.
It alleges a BLM environmental review on fracking in California failed to fully evaluate “the significant and adverse impacts” on communities in those counties.
“BLM refused to look at the evidence and they moved forward with their plan, a plan that is misguided and downright dangerous,” state Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a news conference announcing the lawsuit, which is being launched by the state Department of Justice in partnership with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, the California Air Resources Board, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the California Department of Water Resources.
The process of fracking involves injecting a high-pressure stream of water and certain chemicals into rock in order to crack it open to extract the oil or gas within.
The Bureau of Land Management Bakersfield Field Office issued a finding in December that “there are no adverse environmental impacts due to hydraulic fracturing that cannot be alleviated,” thus opening up more than 1 million acres of public land to fracking and ending a five-year moratorium.
The decision came at the end of a heated public hearing process that included protest in San Luis Obispo County.
Despite that protest, BLM Deputy State Director Danielle Chi concluded that “public comments resulted in the addition of clarifying text to the final (environmental impact statement), but did not warrant or suggest further supplementation or change.”
Drillers would still have to apply for a permit before opening a new project, and that process would entail in its own environmental review. The BLM decision allows permit requests to be considered by the agency.
Becerra said several state agencies asked the bureau to withdraw its proposal and conduct a new analysis that takes state comment into consideration.
“They didn’t take a hard look at the evidence,” Becerra said.
The lawsuit alleges that the Bureau of Land Management violates the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act by disregarding the impact of fracking on public lands, ignoring the danger of oil and gas wells to millions of people who live nearby and disregarding alternatives and mitigations that could reduce the impact of fracking on nearby areas.
The lawsuit further alleges that the federal government did not provide the public with adequate opportunity to comment, including by not accepting oral comment and refusing to provide interpretive services at public meetings.
The Bureau of Land Management on Friday acknowledged receiving a copy of the lawsuit and said it would consider environmental consequences for specific drilling projects at a later time.
“The BLM’s supplemental analysis on hydraulic fracturing did not make any new public lands or federal minerals available to oil and gas development, nor did it issue any new leases or approve any permits to drill,” BLM spokeswoman Serena Baker said in a statement. “If proposed, those actions and the potential impacts would be addressed at the site or project-specific level in subsequent tiered environmental analysis. Most all of the acreage available within the Bakersfield Field Office jurisdiction for oil and gas development has been available for more than 30 years.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, released a statement condemning the lawsuit. His San Joaquin Valley congressional district contains much of California’s oil and gas industry.
“The oil and gas industry annually contribute over 350,000 jobs to California’s economy, many of which come from the Central Valley and Kern County,” McCarthy said in a statement. “Our citizens already pay exorbitant amounts at the pump, and today’s announcement will block responsible energy development, making California an even more expensive place to live.”
This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 11:27 AM with the headline "Trump administration opened California land to fracking. Now the state is suing."
