Coastal Commission Takes Up Offshore Fracking Issue
August 21, 2013
Byline: Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — California regulators are set to take up the issue of offshore fracking, after revelations that the practice has quietly occurred off the coast since the late 1990s.
The Associated Press reported this month that the federal government has allowed hydraulic fracturing on at least a dozen occasions in the past off the California coast, and it approved a new job earlier this year. Information was revealed in an article that appeared in The Log’s Aug. 16-29 issue: “Oil Companies are Fracking in California Offshore Waters.”
After the revelations in the AP story, the California Coastal Commission acted, adding the issue to its agenda.
Fracking involves injecting huge quantities of water, sand and chemicals into rock formations to recover oil or gas. Companies that have fracked off the California coast have reportedly had mixed success stimulating oil into new production.
Since the work occurs more than 3 miles offshore, oversight falls to federal agencies. But state coastal regulators have some say if it affects marine life and water quality.
