"California Permitted Oilfield Discharge in Protected Water"

"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Regulators in California, the country's third-largest oil-producing state, have authorized oil companies to inject production fluids and waste into what are now federally protected aquifers more than 2,500 times, risking contamination of underground water supplies that could be used for drinking water or irrigation, state records show.

While the permits go back decades, an Associated Press analysis found that nearly half of those injection wells — 46 percent — were approved or began injections in the last four years under Gov. Jerry Brown, who has pushed state oil and gas regulators to speed up the permitting process. That happened despite growing warnings from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency since 2011 that state regulators were out of compliance with federal laws meant to protect underground drinking-water stores from oilfield contamination.

In California, 'we need a big course correction. We need to get the system back in compliance,' said Jared Blumenfeld, regional administrator for the EPA. 'Californians expect their water is not being polluted by oil producers ... This poses that very real danger.'"

Ellen Knickmeyer reports for the Associated Press February 5, 2015.

SEE ALSO:

"Answers to Questions About Oil Waste in California Aquifers" (AP)