Senator Henry Stern

SACRAMENTO — On March 3, 2015, Senator Fran Pavley, chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee, and Assemblymember Das Williams, chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, sent a joint letter to the chair of the State Water Resources Control Board and the supervisor of the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) expressing their concerns about the recent revelation that hundreds of unlined, open-air, oil and gas wastewater pits in California are operating without adequate permits.

SACRAMENTO — Since July 2014, an ongoing review of oil and gas injection wells has resulted in the closure of 23 wells due to oil-field wastewater being improperly injected into groundwater used or suitable for drinking and irrigation. These wells—and thousands of other oil and gas injection wells primarily located in Kern County—are regulated by the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) under an agreement with the U.S. EPA to run what is known as the “Class II” Underground Injection Control well program.