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Waste Water from Oil Fracking Injected into Clean Aquifers
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of NBC News (San Francisco Affiliate)


NBC News (San Francisco Affiliate), November 14, 2014
Posted: November 23rd, 2014
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/Waste-Water-from-Oi...

State officials allowed oil and gas companies to pump nearly three billion gallons of waste water into underground aquifers that could have been used for drinking water or irrigation. Those aquifers are supposed to be off-limits to that kind of activity, protected by the EPA. Californias Department of Conservations Chief Deputy Director, Jason Marshall, told NBC Bay Area, There have been past issues where permits were issued to operators that they shouldnt be injecting into those zones." In fracking or hydraulic fracturing operations, oil and gas companies use massive amounts of water to force the release of underground fossil fuels. The practice produces large amounts of waste water that must then be disposed of. Marshall said that often times, oil and gas companies simply re-inject that waste water back deep underground where the oil extraction took place. But other times, Marshall said, the waste water is re-injected into aquifers closer to the surface. In the States letter to the EPA, officials admit that in at least nine waste water injection wells, the waste water was injected into non-exempt or clean aquifers. For the EPA, non-exempt aquifers are underground bodies of water that are containing high quality water that can be used by humans to drink, water animals or irrigate crops. "It should not have been permitted, said Marshall.

Note: The complete article summarized above includes maps of the Bakersfield, CA wells contaminated by these fracking waste injections. For more along these lines, read this Los Angeles Times article about how fracking poisons drinking water, and see concise summaries of deeply revealing corporate corruption news articles from reliable major media sources.


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