Conservationists are calling on California to shut down injection wells after a scathing San Francisco Chronicle report found the state has been letting oil companies drill and dump in protected, drinkable water sources amid a historic drought.
“Put simply, California regulators are not up to the task of managing safe wastewater disposal and cede residents’ safety and health to oil and gas production,” Dan Jacobson, state director for lobbying group Environment California, said in a statement sent to The Huffington Post. “Preserving and protecting California’s water and farms is not something to take lightly.”
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Some claim those injection wells have already done damage. Mike Hopkins, managing partner of Palla Farms near Bakesfield, sued four oil companies in September after he found that they had been injecting wastewater near his orchard, a practice he claims contaminated the groundwater he used with salt and boron and forced him to rip out 3,500 dying cherry trees.
