Cleaning up California’s oil graveyards
Thousands of leaking, idle oil wells are scattered across California, creating toxic graveyards symbolic of a dying industry. To tackle this “urgent climate and public health crisis,” Santa Barbara Assemblymember Gregg Hart introduced Assembly Bill 1866 last week. The bill would mandate oil operators to develop plans to plug the 40,000 idle wells (and counting) in the state within a decade, prioritizing those within 3,200 feet of vulnerable communities. … Ann Alexander, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, calls the system “very badly broken.” Companies “just sit indefinitely on their defunct wells” as they leak methane gas, pollute the air, and contaminate groundwater. … Last fall, the county announced its plan to spend $3.7 million to repair an “unpluggable” well at Toro Canyon Creek. Drilled in the 19th century, this idle well has leaked thousands of gallons of crude oil since the 1990s, contaminating waterways and killing wildlife as a result.