California’s Oil & Gas Crisis
California ranks #7 in the country for oil and gas production.
California is one of the largest producers of dirty oil in the nation, despite the state’s green reputation. There are 72,000 oil wells statewide that produced 165.3 million barrels of oil in 2018, according to the CA Department of Conservation. Nearly five and a half million Californians live within one mile of an oil or gas well, and of those, one-third live in areas with the highest levels of pollution in the state.
Neighborhood Oil Drilling in Los Angeles
In Los Angeles County there are over 5,000 active and idle wells:
If you live in LA, you live near an oil drilling. There are 68 oil fields in LA County with about 2,500 active and 2,500 idle oil wells located near homes, schools, daycares, parks, hospitals, and other places where people live, work, play, and study. Communities living besides urban oil drilling face many impacts from this dangerous practice.
Click HERE for a fact sheet on neighborhood oil drilling in Los Angeles County and take action HERE.
Why It Matters
Urban oil drilling poses significant environmental and health risks to those who live and work nearby, and is disproportionately harmful to people of color and low-income communities.
Health Effects
Neighborhood oil drilling exposes Los Angeles County residents to toxic chemicals and smog-forming gases, which can cause respiratory illness, cardiovascular disease, leukemia, lymphoma, lung cancer, nervous system damage, reproductive and endocrine disruption, birth defects, and premature death. Neighbors to urban oil drilling suffer the most from these health effects.
Air Pollution
Oil drilling sites in Los Angeles emit dozens of toxic chemicals and smog-forming gases that worsen Los Angeles air quality, including: hydrogen sulfide, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX), nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Most wells in California have not been properly sealed, so even a well that is no longer active can continue to leak methane, oil, and other gases, leaving nearby communities at continued risk.
Water Pollution
Oil drilling using enhanced oil recovery techniques, such as acidization, gravel packing, underground injection control and hydraulic fracturing (fracking), and their associated waste disposal methods, are putting Californians’ drinking water at risk. The state agencies responsible for protecting our groundwater aquifers have admitted to allowing oil companies to inject toxic wastewater directly into protected aquifers. This is a dangerous contamination of public drinking water that poses health risks to communities across CA.
Climate Change
Oil production and consumption is a leading cause of the global climate crisis. While California and Los Angeles have an environmentally friendly reputation, the continued production of oil and gas are a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. Continued oil extraction in the Los Angeles Basin alone could release climate emissions about equal to annual emissions from 11 coal plants or 9.6 million passenger vehicles.
Noise and Light Pollution
The noise and light pollution from truck traffic, drilling, well pumps, compressors, and other activities that accompany oil and gas development can be highly disturbing to those living next door. Research shows that continuous exposure to unnatural noise and light can cause a variety of health problems, including headaches, high blood pressure, increased stress and anxiety, hearing impairment, sleep disturbances, and disturb children’s ability to learn.
Earthquakes and Seismic Activity
The process of drilling for oil and re-injecting wastewater deep into wells underground causes the earth’s surface to raise and fall, a process known as uplift and subsidence. This method of disposal is known to induce earthquakes and seismic activist up to 10 miles from the injection site. The Baldwin Hill Dam collapse in 1963, which killed 5 people and destroyed 200 homes, was caused by fluid injection, which created shifts within the earth and rendered the dam unstable. Today residents to urban oil drilling often complain about cracks to the foundation of their homes.
