What the Frack Is Happening Under Long Beach?
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In March, the Weekly obtained an internal two-page city document produced by LBGO that was meant to only be seen by the city's 11-member Sustainable City Commission, which reports to the mayor's office and advises the City Council. Titled "Hydraulic Fracturing in Long Beach," the memo states that fracking was started on the THUMS islands in the early 1970s and has been practiced consistently in Long Beach since the mid-1990s, with a total of 196 wells fracked so far. The document goes on to say that "LBGO has followed all Federal and State regulations . . . (and) has safely conducted a hydraulic fracturing operation and, at the same time, successfully addresses many of the public concerns."
With this odd memo, LBGO appears to be attempting to fend off internal critics as tales of fouled aquifers, toxic air pollution and earthquakes associated with fracking operations have made their way to California from places such as Oklahoma, Texas and Pennsylvania, where these types of problems have been well-documented. Citizens across the country, including many in California, want fracking banned outright. Their belief that the practice is unsafe is shared by many in the scientific community.
Retired geologist Dr. Tom Williams finds it's not only fracking that's cause for concern in Long Beach, but also all of the oil and gas operations. The oil-industry insider now advises various groups in the Los Angeles area that oppose fracking. "Long Beach is sitting on a bomb," asserts Williams, a no-nonsense man who worked for more than 20 years with Parsons Oil & Gas and 10 years with the government of Dubai. "
An earthquake produced by the9 Palos Verdes fault zone will eventually hit, and well cases will pop, and there'll be a massive spill."
Williams' prediction isn't as far-fetched as you might think. A significant 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Long Beach in 1933, the largest quake ever recorded to have hit the Southern California coast. (The Palos Verdes fault line, which slices directly through the Port of Long Beach, is estimated to have the potential for a 7.25 magnitude quake.) According to geologists, it's not a matter of if such an event will happen, but merely how soon. When a quake that large strikes, there's really no telling how much damage it will cause Long Beach's fossil fuel projects, especially the pipelines that carry oil below the seabed, up to 155,000 barrels per day, from the oil islands to onshore refineries in Torrence. (Spills do happen. In 2013, a leak occurred in the Port of Long Beach, and the THUMS lines were temporarily taken offline.)
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2015/04/fracking_long_beach_port_thums_islands_gas_oil.php
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