The posts below are the original work and property of Rich Gamble Associates. Use of this content, in whole or in part, is permitted provided the borrower attribute accurately and provide a link. "Thoughts from under the Palm" are the educational, social, and political commentary by the author intended to provoke thought and discusion around character and leadership .

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Fracking Around Los Alamos


It would seem that fracking is indeed occurring in the Los Alamos valley.
In my February 2011 post I raised the specter of adding pollutants from invasive oil and gas drilling to an already diminished aquifer in the Los Alamos valley. At the time, there was no direct evidence that hydraulic fracturing techniques were being used. I had learned, however, that there was rejuvenated interest on the part of Venoco Inc. in utilizing new fracking and horizontal drilling techniques to extract oil from the Miocene Monterey formation, a rich but not naturally fractured layer underlying much of the transverse California coastal ranges, including the Los Alamos Valley. The appearance of two drilling operations within a few hundred feet of each other within the San Antonio Creek flood basin down the valley suggested to me the possibility of a Monterey Shale hydraulic fracturing oil play. But there was no ready means of identifying the proprietary oil company or of determining their intentions. The leases being worked had been passed hand to hand with minimal disclosure to the uninitiated and although Vencoco reported (in a shareholders' report) the existence of three Monterey Shale fracturing operations in the nearby Santa Maria valley with a fourth in the offing the location of the last exploratory well was not disclosed. 
In my February post I detailed my reasons for believing that the Los Alamos valley operation might be that fourth, and apparently less public, exploration. After publishing the post I discussed this possibility with a friend, a former participant in the Los Alamos planning board, who agreed that this operation likely involved hydraulic fracturing. He called the office of District County Supervisor Doreen Farr for information. They had none, but promised to look into it. The representative of Supervisor Farr was responsive but seemingly ineffective, ultimately sharing an informative film describing the fracturing methodology currently in use which stressed containment and safety. 
But apparently more was going on than was being made public.
On May 5, 2011 The Independent of Santa Barbara published an article stating that "with the recent discovery by county energy's Doug Anthony" our suspicions were confirmed and that Venoco inc. is indeed utilizing fracking to extract oil and gas at that location, described as "two separate leases in the North County" and vaguely "on private land, just off Highway 135 near Vandenberg Air Force Base".  Anthony asserts that Venoco "did it" without permission and that they "have been resisting" providing information but the two sides are "still working through that". (What?
It seems that "the current county onshore drilling application does not have fracking-specific language" (which I can only regard as a serious oversight) and that they are drilling deep, "like 11,000 to 12,000 feet". If true, that is considerably deeper than the conventional Miocene oil plays in the area, including the Chevron Los Flores well drilled nearby to only 5998 feet. In this area, I have read, the Monterey shale ranges from 4800 to 6200 feet in depth and is between 600 to 1100 feet thick. Oil companies have often promoted deep drilling as a safety feature, suggesting that the greater depth provides a safety barrier between toxics and the water supply. But isn't it really just a matter of time? 
The above descriptions are vague. And the general knowledge demonstrated by local public officials and leaders regarding oil extraction methods in the area appears to be scant. We have just emerged from a wet winter. Our water reservoirs are full. For now. Water conservation as a concern may have slipped down the priority list just a bit. But the reality of a warming planet won't change and the value of water as a vital resource can only grow. How will we balance our energy needs against our water supply needs right here in our own backyard? 
Leadership requires the ability to see the big picture and to adjust one's compass  accordingly, both morally and actually. The mariner in a storm battles each wave at a time but the wiser mariner checked the forecast and stayed in port, avoiding the hazard altogether.

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