Cox, John. “Permitting Irregularity Prompts State to Idle 25 Oil, Steam Wells in Kern.” The Bakersfield Californian, 21 Aug. 2019, www.bakersfield.com/news/permitting-irregularity-prompts-state-to-idle-oil-steam-wells-in/article_48caddc2-c3a7-11e9-ace3-3b753c4e8edf.html?utm_campaign=CELPU&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_SFeydU3EIHene48QpJCFD_wNzfPv016Yg_fnB-E4dl6GyEDROZ4Nk1kC8iloDnDg0BL-Z.
Going back to Kern County and the oil spill, 25 Kern County oil and steam-injection wells have been idled in fear that they have never been given a proper regulatory review. The wells are owned by Chevron Corp. and Berry Petroleum Co. LLC. California’s Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources has been investigating how these wells were approved, due to a lack of documentation of this approval. They are concerned over the possibility of intentional misconduct, but are hoping that this was just a result of confusion over the new rules in April.
Most articles I’ve found have at least addressed the Kern County oil spill, because it’s such a large spill. So, there’s not much more I could say about it, besides the fact that I’m glad the Chevron has agreed to cooperate with DOGGR and the law. For me, this rules out the idea that this was a result of intentional misconduct, but I’m no investigator. I was glad that Chevron is willing to cooperate so that we can fix this mess and get back to saving our environment again, but because of the attention that this oil spill has brought, the news has been shedding a lot of light on the greed of many big companies, with higher-ups who will find ways to make profit at the cost of the environment.
I agree. The first major step we as a society can make towards avoiding environmental collapse is getting big corporations to look past profits and contribute to saving the planet.
It’s good that issues like the approval of these wells are being discussed, although it is unfortunate that an oil spill initiated the conversation. I agree that it is good that Chevron is cooperating with the investigation. What does the approval process look like for wells like these and what are the regulations put in place to ensure messes like this don’t happen?
I completely agree that corporate greed is a big factor to any environmental damage, intentional or unintentional. It is great to see a company doing something about damage done as well. Do you really believe that intentional misconduct was ever a possibility, and if it were, who would it benefit?