CFROG will monitor first "NO FRacking" permit in County - will not appeal

Photo: May 30, 2013: Shawn Terris of Ventura attends the CFROG appeal of Mirada's project before the VC Planning Commision. Photo by K. Rivers


In VC This Past Week: "Air Quality board will not monitor fracking impacts" Click for story in Ojai Valley News.

In National News:
US domestic surveillance has targeted anti-fracking activists across the country"
Pentagon bracing for public dissent over climate and energy shocks. Click for article in the Guardian

CFROG will monitor first 
“NO Fracking” CUP in County


Click here to read Mirada's CUP

According to a joint press release from the Environmental Defense Center (EDC) and Citizens for Responsible Oil and Gas (CFROG), they will not appeal the recent Ventura County Planning Decision on new wells in Upper Ojai, but will hold the County accountable for the no fracking rule on the permit.

“[CFROG intends] to monitor Mirada Petroleum’s controversial permit to drill nine new wells in Upper Ojai,” the press release said. The conditional use permit (CUP) represents the first in the County that will prohibit fracking.

The EDC recently represented CFROG in its appeal of the approval before the Planning Commission on May 30. Conditions of the new CUP require the abadonement of oil wells, removal of particular infrastructure on the lease, the ceasing of “illegal use of Koenigstein Road by large trucks that endanger public safety,” and added on May 30 by the Planning Department the condition that the entire oil field be kept clear of all “microtrash” to protect the endangered California Condor.

“Now is the time to take a look at the big picture of a possible oil boom based on fracking and it’s implications not only for the environment and public health but its impact on agriculture and tourism,” said Brian Segee, staff attorney with the EDC who represented CFROG in its appeal.

CFROG formed “in the wake of rampant new oil drilling in Ventura County” and has listed some of its goals:

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• ·      Demand comprehensive review of onshore oil drilling in the County
  
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• ·      Assessment of potential future drilling sites including coastal oil fields, the Ventura River corridor, the Santa Clara River watershed, the Ojai Valley and the agricultural lands in the Oxnard Plain.
  
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• ·      Actively support the May 21, 2013, 4 to 1 vote of the VC Board of Supervisors to “require that oil companies disclose whether they intend to conduct fracking” on CUP applications. Operators will also have to indicated their water supply for drilling and completion activities and where waste will be disposed of. 
  
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• “In the coming weeks, you will hear more from CFROG about the hundreds of new oil wells proposed near the Sespe Condor Sancturary, the proposal to drill an injection well for disposal of frack fluids, a well-casing failure near an elementary school, and much more about a system that constantly approves drilling without adequate environmental review,” said John Brooks of Oak View and a founding CFROG member.
  

For more information on  CFROG visit: www.CFROG.org

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