Aromas residents remain concerned about potential oil and gas drilling in their quiet enclave – concerns they say could lead to water contamination in their community and other areas of San Benito County.
Members of the Aromas Cares For Our Environment group have been collecting signatures for a petition asking the San Benito County Board of Supervisors to put a 180-day moratorium on all oil and gas exploration, along with permits offering time to further explore the impact that potential hydraulic fracturing and other resource recovery techniques could have on the environment. They collected 500 signatures from residents.
Their worries grew from exploration in June and July at and around the Wilson Quarry in Aromas owned by Graniterock. Residents speculated that the seismic studies were examining the area in hopes of finding sources of oil or natural gas.
Supervisor Anthony Botelho brought the item before supervisors Tuesday for discussion. Botelho said he supported a temporary moratorium to give planning staff members a chance to put an ordinance in place that would ensure safety measures before permits are given for use of the oil and gas extraction method known as fracking.
“The issue Aromas has – and really it’s a statewide issue – is hydraulic fracking,” Botelho said at the meeting. “The permit for oil and gas wells doesn’t include protection for environmental concerns.”
During a public comment period, residents and others with a stake in the issue spoke for nearly 45 minutes at about three minutes per speaker.
Maureen Cain, an Aromas resident and member of Aromas CARES, said she was in favor of the 180-day moratorium. She mentioned how residents in Aromas became aware of the issue when the seismic testing was conducted.
“We are aware that many communities across the nation were not prepared,” she said.
Some of the main concerns from residents are that the use of chemicals in hydraulic fracturing could get into the water supply, or that the casing of oil or gas wells could crack in the event of an earthquake, leaking those shale resources into water.
Robert Scoles, another resident, urged the supervisors to not think of oil exploration as a harbinger of jobs. He said he believed most of the jobs would require out-of-town workers with specific skills that local workers would not have.
Two members of the audience spoke out against a moratorium, including a representative of the California Independent Petroleum Association who said he thought a moratorium could be against state law.
“Fracking is not a new process,” said Blair Knox, the director of public affairs. “It has been happening since the 1940s and since the 1950s in California. It has not been a problem. There are studies going back to the 1960s. The only thing that is new is that it is new to you.”
Byron Turner, a planner, said the county has not had a new application for an oil well in nine years. He said it has not had any applications since the concerns about fracking in Aromas came to light in June.
Knox said his agency supported the supervisors in taking a look at the ordinance, but did not want a moratorium.
Another speaker from Citadel Exploration said his firm has had mineral rights in the county since 2006 and has an application in for an additional use permit.
“It does not include the process of fracking,” he said, but he worried a moratorium would stop his project.
The Aromas residents, though, are focused on the environmental impacts. Aromas resident Seth Capron said the federal government exempts fracking and state law does not keep track of whether it is used.
“Many use different chemicals,” he said. “There is a whole range of techniques used. It brings up a host of possible effects we are concerned about. I’d like to see an ordinance that disposes of water from the wells, whether it is fracked” or a standard well.
Wayne Norton, a member of the Aromas Water District, said the board had sent a letter to the supervisors in support of the moratorium and that it was set to discuss concerns about potential water quality issues from fracking in the region at the next water district meeting.
Byron Turner, the county planner, said the county process for oil and gas well applications does not address fracking in particular. He said before an applicant can receive a use permit, they do have to go through a California Environmental Quality Act review and meet all state standards. The application goes to the planning commissioners and can be appealed to the board of supervisors, with a chance for public comment at each step.
When Botelho asked Turner how the San Benito County ordinance compares to other counties such as Monterey and Santa Barbara, Turner said the ordinance in those counties is much more complicated to reflect the higher level of oil activity in those counties.
Supervisor Robert Rivas said he opposed oil activity in the county.
“I don’t mind saying that I don’t want oil drills,” he said. “Maybe it’s because I’m young. Maybe it’s because you hear so much about needing to change” reliance on oil.
He said he was concerned about the environmental impacts that could be caused by oil drilling to both residents and agricultural production.
County Counsel Matthew Granger advised the supervisors that he believed they have the legal authority to call for a 45-day moratorium at a future meeting, but then they would have to come back to extend it for 10 months or 22 months. He suggested the supervisors bring the item back in October and that they consider a moratorium only on applications that involve fracking rather than a blanket moratorium on oil and gas wells.
For full disclosure, Supervisor Jerry Muenzer said he has leased the mineral rights on properties that he owns.
“We need to get off dependence on foreign oil, and one way to do it is more drilling exploration,” he said.
Supervisor Margie Barrios said she would support a moratorium on oil and gas applications that use fracking and that she wanted planning staff members put together a timeline of how long it would take to put an updated ordinance in place.
Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz said he would not support a moratorium of any kind.
The supervisors in a 4-1 vote approved a motion to have staff members to explore the legalities of a moratorium on fracking and to put together a timeline of how long it would take to revise the ordinance at a future meeting. De La Cruz voted against the motion.
