Los
Angeles, Nov. 9, 2018—A federal judge issued an order
today declaring that the federal government violated environmental
protection laws when it approved permits for fracking and
acidizing (otherwise referred to as “well stimulation treatments,”
or “WSTs”) from platforms offshore California. The judge agreed
with the Environmental Defense Center (“EDC”) and Santa Barbara
Channelkeeper (“SBCK”) that the government failed to conduct
adequate consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
regarding potential impacts to threatened and endangered species.
The judge also held that the federal government must provide the
California Coastal Commission with an opportunity to review
fracking and acidizing before allowing such practices.
Accordingly, the court issued an injunction prohibiting the Bureau
of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) and the Bureau of Safety and
Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”) from approving any plans or
permits for the use of well stimulation treatments offshore
California.
EDC and SBCK filed a lawsuit in November
2016, challenging the failure of the federal government to analyze
and disclose the potential risks and impacts caused by fracking
and acidizing from offshore oil platforms in southern California,
including the Santa Barbara Channel. The lawsuit also alleged that
fracking and acidizing can harm species protected under the
Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), such as the blue whale and the
Southern sea otter, and that such activities must be stopped until
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries
Service can conduct their review to ensure that these species are
not harmed.
In ruling in favor of EDC and SBCK, the
court issued an injunction “to prevent the irreparable harm” that
will occur if BOEM and BSEE issue well stimulation permits before
the Fish and Wildlife Service completes its review.
“We are pleased that the court has put a
halt to the risky practice of fracking and acidizing off our
coast,” said Maggie Hall, Staff Attorney at EDC, which represents
EDC and SBCK in this matter. “This ruling ensures that no further
permits will be issued until potential impacts to threatened and
endangered species, including the Southern sea otter and Western
snowy plover, are considered.”
EDC previously filed a lawsuit to stop
fracking and acidizing in the region after discovering, through a
series of Freedom of Information Act requests, that more than
fifty permits had been issued by the federal government without
any public or environmental review. When the government failed to
conduct full environmental review or consult with Fish and
Wildlife Service, EDC and SBCK had no choice but to file this
lawsuit.
EDC’s and SBCK’s lawsuit alleged that
BOEM and BSEE violated the Endangered Species Act because they
failed to consult with the expert wildlife agencies regarding
potential impacts from these well stimulation techniques to at
least twenty-five threatened and endangered species, including
whales, sea otters, fur seals, sea turtles, marine and coastal
birds, fish, and abalone. This process is essential to ensuring
BOEM and BSEE meet their legal requirement to avoid jeopardizing
the continued existence of these species. If the expert wildlife
agencies conclude fracking and acidizing is likely to jeopardize
species, these practices cannot occur as proposed.
The court also ruled in favor of the
State of California’s claim that fracking and acidizing cannot
occur offshore California until the Coastal Commission has an
opportunity to review the potential harm to our State’s coastal
zone. The Commission’s review will require a full public hearing
process.
“The impacts
of offshore fracking and acidizing have never been meaningfully
analyzed,” said Kira Redmond, Executive Director of
Channelkeeper. “These practices will extend the life of
existing oil platforms in a sensitive marine environment, which
is still recovering from the 2015 Plains All American Pipeline
rupture that devastated our coastline. We need information to
understand the potential impacts of these practices so that
appropriate measures can be implemented to protect marine life,
our coast, our communities, and our economy.”
The use of offshore fracking and acidizing in
the Santa Barbara Channel poses significant risks to the sensitive
marine environment. The Santa Barbara Channel harbors such
incredible biological diversity that it has been dubbed the
“Galapagos of North America.” Acidizing and fracking are both
potentially dangerous oil production processes involving the
injection of large amounts of water and chemicals into the ground
in order to fracture or dissolve rock. More information can be
found in EDC’s
Dirty
Water: Fracking Offshore California report.
The Environmental Defense Center, a
non-profit law firm, protects and enhances the local environment
through education, advocacy, and legal action and works primarily
within Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties. Since
1977, EDC has empowered community-based organizations to advance
environmental protection. EDC’s focus areas include protection of
the Santa Barbara Channel, ensuring clean water, preserving open
space and wildlife, and addressing climate and energy. Learn more
about EDC at www.EnvironmentalDefenseCenter.org.
Santa Barbara Channelkeeper is a grassroots non-profit
organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the Santa Barbara
Channel and its watersheds through science-based advocacy,
education, field work and enforcement. Learn more about SBCK at www.sbck.org.