Something in the Water
California Regulators Say Growing Crops with Oil Wastewater is Safe – But They Don’t Really Know
In Kern County, California drillers need to inject a lot of water into their wells to get the oil out. It resurfaces contaminated with arsenic, uranium, underground toxins and chemicals used in extraction. Regulators say it’s safe to use that water on crops: every year 12.4 billion gallons of it gets used to irrigate California farmland.
We took a look at the science behind the claim in the series of stories below. We found scant evidence, conflicts of interest and potential dangers to an unsuspecting public.
Our findings are vital to climate and energy policymaking, not only in California but in other states imitating the practice, and everywhere California’s agricultural output is consumed.
A California Water Board Assures the Public that Oil Wastewater Is Safe for Irrigation, But Experts Say the Evidence Is Scant
By Liza Gross
California Regulators Banned Fracking Wastewater for Irrigation, but Allow Wastewater From Oil Drilling. Scientists Say There’s Little Difference
By Liza Gross
California Water Regulators Still Haven’t Considered the Growing Body of Research on the Risks of Oil Field Wastewater
By Liza Gross
When an Oil Well Is Your Neighbor
By Liza Gross
Drought-Wracked California Allows Oil Companies to Use High-Quality Water. But Regulators’ Error-Strewn Records Make Accurate Accounting Nearly Impossible
By Liza Gross, Peter Aldhous
