The mission of Frack-Free LA County is to ban fracking, acidizing and other extreme hydrocarbon extraction methods that cause adverse health and environmental effects in Los Angeles County, and to set the precedent for other cities or counties to follow in suit.
What is “fracking”?
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is the process of injecting millions of gallons of water, volumes of sand and gravel, and tens of thousands of gallons of known toxic chemicals, deep underground at extremely high pressures to fracture open rock formations, in order to facilitate the extraction of petroleum and ‘natural’ gas (methane).
Acidization is the process of using hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acid to stimulate production from dwindling wells, as they melt rock layers and thereby allow oil and gas to flow more freely. Hydrochloric and hydrochloric acid fumes are air toxins that can cause illness and even fatalities if exposure is high enough.
How does fracking affect you?
HEALTH
Through water and air contamination, fracking has been linked to a variety of adverse health impacts, including cancer. Found in just one sample of fracking waste water, 55 unique chemicals can be classified as known human carcinogens, and 20 compounds are evident of leukemia or lymphoma risk.
WATER
140 billion gallons of fresh water are used for fracking each year. The act of fracking contaminates this water with highly toxic and cancer-causing chemicals that are then routed back into aquifers and even used for farming.
AIR
Research has linked pollution from fracking to unhealthy levels of methane, smog and toxic air contaminants. Exposure to this pollution can cause eye, nose, and throat irritation, respiratory illnesses, central nervous system damage, birth defects, cancer, or premature death.
EARTHQUAKES
The EPA has acknowledged the connection between fracking and increased earthquakes. Most of these earthquakes are caused by disposing of fracking waste water in underground injection wells.
Fracking and/or other methods of stimulating extraction are going on right now in Los Angeles County, which has significant hydrocarbon deposits and has been a major producer of petroleum and natural gas for decades. Now the city of Culver City, which controls a significant section of the “Inglewood Oil Field” in the Blair Hills/Baldwin Hills area near Kenneth Hahn Park, is considering a proposal to allow the drilling of up to 30 new wells over the next 15 years. The required environmental impact report and policy approval by their City Council allows an opportunity for public comment within which to raise the issue of the dangers of fracking and the environmental impact of any further hydrocarbon drilling and production. You can email your comments to IOFSpecificPlanProject@culvercity.org, with the subject line “Inglewood Oil Field Specific Plan Project.” You have until March 14 to comment, after an extension was granted. See more at https://www.culvercity.org/how-do-i-/learn/inglewood-oil-field. You can also pressure the LA City Council and the LA County Board of Supervisors to weigh in on the issue, which impacts their constituents as well as people in Culver City itself.
For more information, check out httpss://www.facebook.com/Frack-Free-LA-County-463025000553433/ and https://www.frackfreelacounty.com/
