Scott Streater, E&E reporter
\nPublished: Wednesday, February 26, 2014<\/p>\n
An environmental group wants U.S. EPA to ban the discharge of chemicals
\noff the California coastline that are used by some offshore oil and gas
\ndrilling operators as part of the hydraulic fracturing process.<\/p>\n
The Center for Biological Diversity today submitted the 44-page
\npetition to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and Jared Blumenfeld, the
\nagency’s regional administrator in San Francisco, requesting that the
\nagency amend a general permit covering offshore oil and gas exploration
\noff the South California coast to prohibit discharges of “dangerous
\nfracking chemicals into the ocean just off the coast of California
\ndirectly into sensitive habitat for blue whales, leatherback sea
\nturtles and many other endangered species.”<\/p>\n
EPA last month approved an updated version of the general permit that
\nallows oil companies to discharge more than 9 billion gallons of
\nwastewater into the ocean each year, according to the environmental
\ngroup’s petition.<\/p>\n
“EPA must revoke or modify” the permit, which authorizes 23 offshore
\noil and gas platforms to discharge into federal waters off California,
\n“because offshore fracking and its associated discharges endanger human
\nhealth and the environment,” the petition said.<\/p>\n
The Center for Biological Diversity says oil companies have used
\nfracturing on more than a dozen offshore wells in California and that a
\nCBD analysis of 12 offshore sites in the state found that a third of
\nthe fracking chemicals used are suspected of ecological hazards.<\/p>\n
“It’s disgusting that oil companies dump wastewater into California’s
\nocean,” said Miyoko Sakashita, CBD’s oceans program director in San
\nFrancisco. “You can see the rigs from shore, but the contaminated
\nwaters are hidden from view. Our goal is to make sure toxic fracking
\nchemicals don’t poison wildlife or end up in the food chain.”<\/p>\n
The general permit that EPA updated last month and that is at the
\ncenter of the CBD petition was revised to include better oversight of
\noffshore drilling in the state in response to concerns from state
\nlegislators and others over “the risks to the marine environment from
\npotential releases of hydraulic fracturing fluids and the adequacy of
\nthe existing information and requirements,” according to the agency
\n(E&ENews PM, Jan. 9).<\/p>\n
The updated general permit, among other things, requires oil and gas
\ndrillers operating offshore in California to maintain an inventory of
\nthe chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing and other drilling
\noperations and to report those results if the fluids are released into
\nthe surrounding water.<\/p>\n
But the updated permit also allows it to “be reopened and modified if
\nnew information indicates that the discharges (including chemicals used
\nand discharged in hydraulic fracturing operations offshore) could cause
\nunreasonable degradation of the marine environment,” according to EPA.<\/p>\n
While the updated EPA rules “were a step in the right direction,”
\nSakashita said, chemicals used in the fracking process have no business
\nbeing discharged into federal waters.<\/p>\n
The CBD petition said that the “hazards posed to the environment from
\nfracking operations are too great to allow the continued dumping of
\nwastewater with unlimited fracking chemicals into the ocean,” and that
\n“reporting alone is insufficient” to protect waterways and the marine
\nlife in them.<\/p>\n
“The toxic chemicals used for offshore fracking don’t belong in the
\nocean,” Sakashita said, “and the best way to protect our coast is to
\nban fracking altogether.”<\/p>\n
Special thanks to Richard Charter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Scott Streater, E&E reporter Published: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 An environmental group wants U.S. EPA to ban the discharge of chemicals off the California coastline that are used by some offshore oil and gas drilling operators as part of the hydraulic fracturing process. The Center for Biological Diversity today submitted the 44-page petition to EPA … Continue reading E&E: Enviros petition EPA to ban chemical discharges off Calif. coast<\/span>