Oil Companies Taint Drinking Water - Several environmental protection groups are clamoring for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take control of nearly 200 waste disposal wells across California that are used by oil companies to dislodge toxic remnants from their operations.
The activists claim that the harmful chemicals from oil companies taint drinking water as these disposal wells inevitably reach into aquifers deep in the ground.
While reports indicate that tests of some wells in Central Valley have shown no signs of being contamination, last year the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources ordered about 7 independent oil companies in Kern County to immediately stop pumping liquid waste into 11 waste disposal wells over fears that they may be polluting aquifers used by the local community to source their drinking water.
California is facing one of its most severe periods of drought in a very long time. Throughout the state, many people have had to turn to underground aquifers. Recently, the National Weather Service revealed that for the first time in about 165 years, there has been no rain in downtown San Francisco.
In October last year, the Center for Biological Diversity reported that billions of gallons of liquid toxic waste from oil companies in the state have been pumped into aquifers in Central California. The Center has revealed that the EPA has investigated over 500 waste disposal wells in the state over suspicion that they may be contaminating aquifers.
According to the California Water Board, up to 9 disposal wells have been contaminating aquifers that contain high quality water.
While the regional administrator of the EPA Jared Blumfeld has noted that any well would be shut down once evidence is provided to show that it is contaminating aquifers, many activists are urging the agency to take action immediately.
