Dozens of community residents joined the fight against fracking last night in Bakersfield. This mobilization occurred as a response to a hearing scheduled by the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) to receive public comments on the proposed well stimulation treatment regulations as mandated by Senate Bill 4. Groups like the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment (CRPE), Association of Irritated Residents (AIR), Fresnans Against Fracking, and CCEJN were present to demand a ban on fracking…
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Dozens of community residents joined the fight against fracking last night in Bakersfield. This mobilization occurred as a response to a hearing scheduled by the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) to receive public comments on the proposed well stimulation treatment regulations as mandated by Senate Bill 4. Groups like the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment (CRPE), Association of Irritated Residents (AIR), Fresnans Against Fracking, and CCEJN were present to demand a ban on fracking.
The hearing was attended by 80+ residents from all over the San Joaquin Valley. Many industry supporters congratulated DOGGR for embarking in the process of these regulations. However, far more residents spoke about the need for further scientific data, the need to invest in renewable sources of energy, and pressed the demand to ban fracking…
Last year, almond farmer Tom Frantz shot a video of an oil company illegally spilling fracking fluid laced with chemicals into an open pit at the edge of town. Within months, his video had inspired stories from the New York Times to the British Broadcasting Corp.
The open pit — next to another farmer’s almond orchard — has since been covered with dirt. A fence now blocks the public’s view. But state water authorities saw enough. They issued a notice of violation…
One summer Saturday in the Bay Area city of Richmond, nitric acid leaked from a tank at a metal plating company, forming a toxic cloud that floated over a neighborhood of small houses and stucco apartments.
“People were coughing. They were gasping for air,” recalled Denny Larson, a community organizer who rushed to the scene. More than 125 people were taken to hospitals…
California regulators have allowed hundreds of toxic waste polluters walk away from contaminated sites and dozens of waste facilities to operate with expired permits while reducing enforcement, it was reported Friday.
The Department of Toxic Substances Control also has drastically reduced fines against polluting firms and reduced the number of cases it sends to prosecutors, the Los Angeles Times said, citing interviews and records from courts, the department and other agencies.
The department is responsible for regulating more than 100,000 businesses that generate hazardous waste in the state…
After spending decades and hundreds of millions of dollars cleaning up stubbornly high levels of pollution, air quality officials in the San Joaquin Valley are telling federal regulators that enough is enough.
San Joaquin Valley officials say that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is unfairly blaming locals for air fouled by outside sources and is failing to take into account the pollution-trapping topography of the mountain-ringed basin…But federal regulators are pushing back…
With two years of little rain and the threat of another dry year, California is long overdue for an investment in its water future. The continued lack of rain threatens access to clean, affordable and reliable water for families, farmers and the business community.
Not too long ago, in 2009, the Legislature passed a comprehensive water bond with bipartisan support. It has been postponed twice for many reasons but namely because of concerns that it will not receive voter approval.
Since then, there has been talk around the Capitol about reopening the 2009 bond — which was the best available option at the time and took nearly a decade to negotiate.
If bond talks reopen, one thing is clear: The only pathway to success will require legislators from all parts of the state to come together around a common vision for California’s water future that prioritizes storage, clean drinking water and protecting the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta…
Six Valley nonprofits will pursue environment-enhancing projects with help from grants from the Fresno Regional Foundation.
Totaling $155,000 this year, the FEF’s environment grants are awarded annually for projects that advance public health, social equity, environmental sustainability and economic growth in the San Joaquin Valley…
On December 10th, 2013, Brian Leahy, Director of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation Visited Tulare County. El Quinto Sol De America, based out of Lindsay, CA hosted a series of site visits to towns like Tooleyville and Plainview where residents were able to meet with Mr. Leahy. The residents spoke to the Director about their own experiences with pesticide drift and overall misuse in a county that represents a large part of the pesticide use in the State of California.
On Thursday, December 12, 2013 the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, a division of the Department of Conservation held a scoping meeting in regards to the preparation of a well-stimulation treatment EIR mandated by Senate Bill 4 (Pavley). Several activists joined the hearing to speak out against fracking and to help shape the scope of an Environmental Impact Report in order to make it as comprehensive as possible…