Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Fracking the ocean blue

Protesters demand halt to dumping of toxic oil-drilling waste.

A group of protesters organized by environmental organizations SanDiego350 and the Center for Biological Diversity, some donning mock hazmat suits, gathered Wednesday morning outside the Catamaran Resort on Mission Bay. Inside, the California Coastal Commission was hosting a meeting to consider a massive expansion plan for a section of Interstate 5 running through North County, among other issues.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The protesters, however, were concerned with a different issue: a shift from conventional oil drilling to the practice of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," off the California coast.

"We knew that there were offshore platforms off Santa Barbara and Long Beach that have been grandfathered in for a long time," says activist Peg Mitchell. "What no one realized was that, late last year, they began drilling unconventionally, using the fracking process which involves injecting tons of fresh water mixed with highly toxic chemicals into wells."

Environmentalists say that the waste water and chemicals from drilling is being released directly into the ocean, putting a wide swath of marine species at risk. They're demanding that the Coastal Commission, which holds authority over the handful of existing rigs (a moratorium on new drilling platforms off the state's coast has been in place since 1969), take action to prohibit fracking in coastal waters.

"These are old, archaic rigs that have very new practices using high pressures, new technologies. These things really aren't built to handle the pressure involved in fracking," says Ash Lauth, a Center campaign organizer. Because of the moratorium, oil companies have labored on with equipment originally installed in the 1950s and 1960s, rather than abandon their wells.

"Every single time that we frack in the ocean, we threaten the marine ecosystem and threaten life along California's coast," continues Lauth. "We know that the only way to protect ourselves is to ban the practice going forward."

On Tuesday, the Center released polling data finding that a majority 55 percent of Californians support an offshore fracking ban. An even larger share, 65 percent, favor restrictions that would prevent fracking chemicals from being dumped into the ocean after use if the practice continues.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Larry Turner – the man who would be San Diego's mayor

Ex-Marine, cop answers the personal questions
Next Article

Frank Zane has already won

But don’t call former Mr. Universe retired

A group of protesters organized by environmental organizations SanDiego350 and the Center for Biological Diversity, some donning mock hazmat suits, gathered Wednesday morning outside the Catamaran Resort on Mission Bay. Inside, the California Coastal Commission was hosting a meeting to consider a massive expansion plan for a section of Interstate 5 running through North County, among other issues.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The protesters, however, were concerned with a different issue: a shift from conventional oil drilling to the practice of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," off the California coast.

"We knew that there were offshore platforms off Santa Barbara and Long Beach that have been grandfathered in for a long time," says activist Peg Mitchell. "What no one realized was that, late last year, they began drilling unconventionally, using the fracking process which involves injecting tons of fresh water mixed with highly toxic chemicals into wells."

Environmentalists say that the waste water and chemicals from drilling is being released directly into the ocean, putting a wide swath of marine species at risk. They're demanding that the Coastal Commission, which holds authority over the handful of existing rigs (a moratorium on new drilling platforms off the state's coast has been in place since 1969), take action to prohibit fracking in coastal waters.

"These are old, archaic rigs that have very new practices using high pressures, new technologies. These things really aren't built to handle the pressure involved in fracking," says Ash Lauth, a Center campaign organizer. Because of the moratorium, oil companies have labored on with equipment originally installed in the 1950s and 1960s, rather than abandon their wells.

"Every single time that we frack in the ocean, we threaten the marine ecosystem and threaten life along California's coast," continues Lauth. "We know that the only way to protect ourselves is to ban the practice going forward."

On Tuesday, the Center released polling data finding that a majority 55 percent of Californians support an offshore fracking ban. An even larger share, 65 percent, favor restrictions that would prevent fracking chemicals from being dumped into the ocean after use if the practice continues.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Three poems by Oso Guardiola

Conversation in the Cathedral, Schism, Runoff
Next Article

Gonzo Report: Ben Folds takes requests via paper airplane at UCSD

A bunch of folks brought theirs from home
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader