Fracking in the Los Alamos Valley has finally become an open topic of discussion. That's good, because the future of the land and all that resides below it and above it is the business of all of us - and it is everybody's responsibility. As our natural resources dwindle in the face of a burgeoning population of consumers and a changing climate the dispersement and the safeguarding of these resources is important to every single one of us. All residents need to arm ourselves with an understanding of the choices that must be made, the choices will be necessary ultimately to conserve the quality of life and perhaps even life itself.
There will be fewer and fewer easy answers.
For Los Alamos and this valley the resources in question are oil and water. We cannot understand fully the impact of one on the other and the questions surrounding both until we get answers. What is the future plan for each? Will these plans impact one another? What choices will have to be made? What priorities must be set?
It is troubling that the oil companies, in this case Venoco, choose to keep their activities a secret. Until persistent questions were directed to county administrators by our local citizenry resulting in inquiries being made it seemed no one was even aware that hydraulic fracturing was taking place here, this despite a national - nay, international hue and cry on the subject. Nor will oil companies disclose the precise formula they inject deep into the earth. Congress has sat on a bill for several years now that would have forced this disclosure, at the least to local supervisors, thus allowing emergency precautions to be put in place.
The recent meeting held by Venoco to share information with at least part of the public was a positive step, whether or not one agrees with their conclusions. The representative promised a second meeting this month, this time for the general public. Meanwhile the district supervisors have made their presence known and the topic of fracking is to be taken up in the June 7 Board of Supervisors meeting, which is open to the public. Another meeting will be attended by DOGGR, the state body tasked with regulating and supervising oil extracting processes, and is to be held August 4. Both meetings are held in Santa Barbara.
There are several issues to consider: contamination of the water supply from both injected toxics and surface spills, seismic disturbances from concussion and weakening underlying ledge, disposal of recovered toxics, and the huge amounts of water required for fracking and water injection, taken from the aquifer (3% of the amount of water consumed by the town of Los Alamos in a year, per well).
It is disturbing that there is no legislation in Santa Barbara county that requires the oil companies to disclose the methods they will use in their wells. It is distressing that formulas with toxins may be injected deep into the earth. Venoco has assured land owners that the depth of the wells, claimed to be between 8000 and 10000 feet, protect the aquifer and that a casing sheath seals the well from the aquifer where it passes down through it. They may be right but if they are not it will be too late.
To my mind, the philosophy that supports injecting toxic fracking fluids into the earth at great depth is similar to the philosophy supporting dumping unwanted waste into our oceans where we can no longer see it. We are now discovering how that worked out.
Yes, we are a petroleum culture through and through but that shouldn't mean that we can't continue to try to make changes. At what cost freedom from foreign oil? We need oil for our lifestyle. We need water for life.
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