By Donna Cabanne
On May 24th, the East Alameda County Board of Zoning Adjustments will consider two conditional use permits for E&B Natural Resources, an oil company operating in Livermore. The permits would allow E&B to dispose of oil-drilling waste by injecting it into local aquifers. E&B also wants to nearly triple the area it can inject with wastewater, from 26 to about 70 acres.
The drilling process used by E&B in Livermore is a close cousin of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in which water that has been mixed with a cocktail of chemicals is pumped into the earth to stimulate oil production. The oil company then dumps, or “re-injects”, the contaminated water back into the aquifer for disposal, poisoning our soil and water.
Seven domestic wells and two irrigation wells are within a quarter-mile of E&B’s wastewater re-injection area — and there’s no way to keep the polluted wastewater from flowing out of the dumping area through the aquifer. Oil wastewater has been found to contain dangerous levels of cancer-causing substances.
Waste-water reinjection can also trigger earthquakes. The area in question here is at greater risk because it’s geologically unstable — located adjacent to the active and unpredictable Greenville Fault, which experienced a 5.8-magnitude earthquake in 1980. Even small tremors could put the aquifers at risk by opening up contamination pathways.
E&B Natural Resources has a poor track record here in Alameda County and elsewhere. Alameda County recently cited E&B for failing to immediately report soil contamination from oil tanks at an operation in the Livermore Valley. The Alameda County District Attorney also sued E&B for improper transportation and disposal of hazardous waste. We can’t trust E&B Natural Resources with the safety of our land, water, and public health.
The Livermore Valley has a strong agricultural tradition that continues today. It has the largest ranching community and the largest number of wineries in our county. Our ranchers and many East County residents depend on wells, including deep water wells during droughts. We cannot afford to put our groundwater at risk for the maximum profits of an oil company with a bad track record.
What You Can Do:
Our groundwater is at risk! Here's how you can help:
- Please use our online form to send a message to the Board and county planners asking them to reject E&B’s request to further pollute our water and soil.
- Join us on Thursday, May 24th in Pleasanton at the meeting of the East County Board of Zoning Adjustments, where they will discuss whether to issue the permits to E&B. You can RSVP here.
Donna Cabanne is a member of the Executive Committee of the Sierra Club's Tri-Valley Group.