Alameda Fracking Ban Hearing

After two years and much behind-the-scenes work by Alameda County Against Fracking (ACAF), a comprehensive ordinance that would ban all extreme oil and gas extraction methods is coming up for approval by the Alameda County Planning Commission.  The proposed Zoning Ordinance Amendment would:

Modify the Alameda County Zoning Ordinance (ACZO) to prohibit high intensity oil and gas operations in the unincorporated area, including Well stimulation by increasing the permeability of the formation; enhanced recovery wells that are injected with brine, water, steam, polymers, carbon dioxide, or other gasses into oil-bearing formations to recover residual oil and in some limited applications natural gas; hydraulic fracturing; acid fracturing; acid matrix stimulation treatment; acid well stimulation treatment; and disposal or storage of the substances used in or the waste or byproducts of the uses listed above, including but not limited to hydraulic fracturing fluid, acid well stimulation fluid, well stimulation treatment fluid, flowback fluid, wastewater or produced water. Modify the ACZO to prohibit Disposal or storage in pits or sumps of any wastewater or produced water that is a byproduct of any oil and gas operations (uses listed in 17.06.040(I)).

See below for the official hearing notice, including the full text of the ordinance.

This final draft includes provisions that ACAF felt were most important not only for banning surface activities that enable fracking and other extreme oil and gas extraction methods, but also the percolation pits and sumps which have been notoriously involved in contamination of surface waters and clean water aquifers in California’s Central Valley.

Opposition has included E & B Natural Resources, owner of the six wells operating in East Alameda County, which objects to any limitation on its current operations, and Californians for Energy Independence, a petroleum industry front group  which argues that the County should defer to the State of California in these matters, despite—or because of—the many failures of state agencies to adequately regulate oil producers.  Some East County landowners have also spoken out against regulation in past committee meetings.

We don’t know how much opposition Big Oil and its local allies will mount at the April 4th Planning Commission hearing.  But we hope there will be solid turnout of our own folks, pumped up (you should pardon the expression) and ready to testify, or to hold signs during the hearing.

Will Alameda County join Santa Cruz, Mendocino and San Benito in saying no pasaran to the oil industry?  Passage of this ordinance by the Planning Commission is the last hurdle before the Board of Supervisors makes the final decision.  Come join this historic effort!