In the past year several issues related to oil and gas production in the County have been brought before the planning commission. Today at the VC Star it is announced that Carin Kelly of Foster Park will be replacing Paul Magie, who left the commission citing personal reasons. 

Here is the full VC Star story: http://www.vcstar.com/news/local-news/county-news/ojai-valley-leader-joins-county-planning-commission_09181410

Earthworks has released it's study of the communities of Upper OJai and Lost Hills in Kern County. 
In both communities 15 different compounds were found in the air which have known health impacts. Other compounds were found which have no available health data. And one compound was found in Lost Hills, which ALS Laboratories was unable to identify altogether. 

Click Image to View the Report. 
Full Story coming in the Ojai Valley News. 

Tomorrow Earthworks will release the results of an air quality and health study conducted in Upper Ojai (Lost Hills in Kern County was also studied). The study is titled "Californians at Risk: an analysis of health threats from oil and gas pollution in two communities". 

"Although oil and gas development has occurred in California for years, until Californians at Risk no one has recorded or analyzed it's volatile organic compound pollution using infrared video - the same technology that companies and regulators use to detect leaks - and then identified the individual constituents of that pollution and the health risks associated with it." 

The study and results has been "externally reviewed by academic experts" and the study reportedly shows that due to a conflict of interest in the mandate of the California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources DOGGR (the state regulatory agency for oil and gas operations), which emphasizes promoting the production of oil and gas resources in the state, that it should be the California Department of Health which analyzes the potential health risks and impacts from oil and gas development in the State. 

DOGGR, in adhering to recently passed regulations (SB4) has released the first Draft Environmental Impact Report (VCInFocus is reviewing for further reporting soon) and a scientific assessment of currently available data. 

VCInFocus will post the report here as soon as it is released Thursday Morning. 

Anterra Energy is an oil field waste disposal company located on Wooley Road in Oxnard. The facility is surrounded on three sides by strawberry fields. The company is currently the subject of an investigation by the District Attorney, no charges have yet been filed and it is unknown what the DA is looking into. The facility includes a Class II waste injection well. The well allows Anterra to dispose of oil field waste in a well into the ground. The well itself, is a former producing oil and gas well. There is no "container" in the ground. Disposal injection wells are designed to use the earth around the well underground to absorb what is disposed of. 

Last year Anterra submitted a request to the County to amend the Non-Coastal zoning ordinance to allow continued operation of the facility in the area. The current ordinance does not allow for this kind of facility to operate in an agricultural area, and an amendment such as Anterra has requested is required to allow continued operation under a renewed conditional use permit. 

Below is the notice the County Planning Division printed in the Jan. 17 edition of the VC Star with details about the process and upcoming hearing on Jan. 27: