Let science guide rules for fracking

This editorial is from the San Jose Mercury News:

Gov. Jerry Brown should step up his leadership in the debate over fracking.

In the wake of ballot fights this fall and more expected, Californians need reassurance that the state is scientifically evaluating the safety and environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing and will increase its already strictest-in-the-nation regulations if needed when the facts are clear.

On Election Day, San Benito and Mendocino counties passed ballot measures prohibiting the controversial oil-extraction technique, which has not been practiced there. A similar measure in Santa Barbara County failed, but fracking foes’ strategy is to build support city by city and county by county, leading to a statewide initiative. Butte County has plans for a measure in 2016, and the cities of Los Angeles and Santa Cruz have passed legislation.

Concerns about fracking are legitimate. Pumping water and chemicals thousands of feet underground at high pressure could damage water supplies or increase seismic activity. But until now, nobody has undertaken thorough, objective study of possible consequences.

California has accepted that challenge, thanks largely to Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, one of the most trusted environmentalists in the Legislature. In 2013, lawmakers passed her SB 4, which is widely regarded as the toughest fracking regulation in the nation. The law requires drillers to notify nearby property owners 30 days before any fracking takes place, disclose the chemicals being used - no trade-secret excuses - and test groundwater before and after fracking.

The key component of the legislation, however, is the peer-reviewed, independent study of the environmental impact of fracking now under way by the California Council for Science and Technology and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The original January deadline was pushed back to July 1 to ensure the “integrity and credibility of the scientific process.”

In the meantime, California counties and cities should chill - and so should oil companies poised to take San Benito and Mendocino to court over their new bans. The results of the EIR could change everything on the state level. Why waste more money, public or private, on fights that could be moot?

The state’s Department of Conservation website shows that 99 percent of hydraulic fracturing in California in the past year took place in Kern County. Since SB 4 passed, the only other fracking has been on four wells in Ventura County and two wells in Kings County. No fracking is taking place in any of the state’s remaining 55 counties.

Pavley has committed to leading the charge for a ban on fracking if the study confirms it causes unpreventable danger to the environment. This is the responsible way to proceed. Brown , with his new mandate, should use his bully pulpit to calm residents until the study is complete. Arguments will continue, but at least there will be a baseline of facts to start from.