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Butte County, California, Fracking Ban Initiative, Measure E (June 2016)

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Measure E: Butte County Fracking Ban Initiative
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The basics
Election date:
June 7, 2016
Status:
Approveda Approved
Topic:
Local fracking
Related articles
Local fracking on the ballot
June 7, 2016 ballot measures in California
Butte County, California ballot measures
See also
Butte County, California
Fracking in California
Fracking

A Butte County Fracking Ban Initiative ballot question was on the election ballot for voters in Butte County, California, on June 7, 2016. It was approved.

A "yes" vote was a vote in favor of enacting citizen initiative Measure E and prohibiting hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, and related gas and oil extraction activities.
A "no" vote was a vote against enacting Measure E, keeping state law to govern and restrict fracking and other oil and gas industry practices.

The Citizen Action Network (CAN), coordinating with the Butte Environmental Council, started a petition drive campaign called Frack-Free Butte County to put this initiative, Measure E, on the ballot.[1][2][3]

Proponents pointed out that the initiative was not designed to impose a permanent ban on fracking in the county, but was written to require a moratorium on the process until further research could be done and regulations sufficient to satisfy all concerns could be put in place. Water Commissioner Ryan Schohr, however, was doubtful that the moratorium would ever be lifted. He said, "Essentially it would be a complete ban. By the nature of it, some of those hydrocarbons may be considered unsafe by somebody."[4][5]

The California State Legislature enacted a law, Senate Bill 4, to regulate oil and gas extraction, including fracking.[6] Supporters of the Butte County fracking moratorium initiative, however, believe that the legislation is too lax on the industry and does not provide necessary safeguards for residents and the natural resources on which they rely. Chuck Greenwood of Citizens Action Network said, "We're taking the basic position that we can't rely on federal and state people." Joni Stellar, media coordinator for CAN, said, "We are uncomfortable with the laxness of the language in SB4. Existing wells are exempted."[4]

Election results

Butte County , Measure E
ResultVotesPercentage
Approveda Yes 45,988 71.88%
No17,99128.12%
Election results from Butte county Elections Office

Text of measure

Ballot question

The following question appeared on the ballot:[7]

“

Shall the ordinance entitled "Ordinance Imposing a Ban on Hydraulic Fracturing Within Butte County" be adopted?[8]

”

Impartial analysis

The following impartial analysis of Measure E was prepared by the office of the Butte County Counsel:

“

Measure E is proposed by voters in Butte County who signed an initiative petition. The measure is a proposed ordinance which would ban hydraulic fracturing within Butte County. If approved by a majority of the voters, the proposed ordinance would:

1. Define "hydraulic fracturing" as techniques used in preparing a well that, in whole or in part, typically involve the pressurized injection of water and chemicals, compounds, and materials into an underground geologic formation to expand existing fractures or create new fractures in that formation, thereby causing or enhancing the production of oil or gas from a well. "Hydraulic fracturing" includes "fracking," "hydrofracking," "hydrofracturing," "unconventional well stimulation," and any other nontraditional oil and gas recovery techniques, including procedures commonly referred to as "acidization," "acid fracturing," and "gravel packing."

2. Find that hydraulic fracturing is a new and distinct land use that has not been approved by Butte County; that hydraulic fracturing is a type of land use that is incompatible with other land uses in Butte County; that hydraulic fracturing uses extensive amounts of water thus reducing the availability of water for agricultural, residential, commercial and other public uses; that the use and disposal of toxic chemicals in fracking operations can cause serious harm to the surface and groundwater supply and contaminate the land either directly or through leaky wells; that hydraulic fracturing generates numerous types of air pollutants, including volatile organic compounds ("VOCs"), methanol, formaldehyde, and carbon disulfide, which can result in serious regional air pollution problems and contribute to smog formation; and that hydraulic fracturing contributes to the risk and severity of earthquake activity.

3. Impose an immediate ban on land use involving hydraulic fracturing and related activities, including the disposal of fracking byproducts within the County's boundaries.

4. Require full public disclosure and testing of all existing fracking sites and injection/disposal wells, and allow government access and testing of the chemicals used in fracking operations.

5. Exempt all vested rights in well stimulation. A person claiming a vested right would be required to demonstrate to the County through clear and convincing evidence that a vested right exists. If proven to exist, the vested right would expire upon completion of the first occurrence of the claimant's well stimulation. The drilling, maintenance, or operation of an existing well would not constitute a vested right to use fracking or other unconventional well stimulation.

6. Require appropriate amendments to the Butte County General Plan within the elements of land use, water, and air quality.

7. Remain in effect until the Board of Supervisors determines that the state has enacted and enforced regulations that provide sufficiently thorough protections to public health and safety, and natural resources of the state, including full and advance public disclosure and testing of all fracking sites and injection/disposal wells while allowing government access to and testing of the chemicals used in specific fracking and related operations.[8]

”
—Bruce S. Alpert, Butte County Counsel[9]

Full text

The full text of the initiative petition is below:[10]

Show more
“
Fracking Ordinance For Butte County
Ban on Hydraulic Fracturing

WHEREAS, "Hydraulic fracturing" means techniques used in preparing a well that, in whole or in part, typically involve the pressurized injection of water and chemicals, compounds, and materials into an underground geologic formation in order to expand existing fractures or create new fractures in that formation, thereby causing or enhancing the production of oil or gas from a well. For the purposes of this ordinance, hydraulic fracturing shall include the terms "fracking," "hydrofracking," "hydrofracturing," "unconventional well stimulation," and any other nontraditional oil and gas recovery techniques, including procedures commonly referred to as "acidization," "acid fracturing," and "gravel packing;" and

WHEREAS, hydraulic fracturing is a new and distinct land use that has not been approved by Butte County; and

WHEREAS, hydraulic fracturing is a type of land use that is incompatible with other land uses in Butte County; and

WHEREAS, fracking uses extensive amounts of water thus reducing the availability of water for agricultural, residential, commercial and other public uses; and

WHEREAS, the use of toxic chemicals in fracking operations and the subsequent need to dispose of the residue from fracking activities (e.g. through injection wells) can cause serious harm to the surface and groundwater supply and contaminate the land either directly or through leaky wells; and

WHEREAS, air quality and the effect of emissions of pollutants are of major concern to public health, safety and welfare of Butte County residents; and fracking activities are known to generate numerous types of air pollutants, including volatile organic compounds ("VOCs"), methanol, formaldehyde, and carbon disulfide; and fracking can result in serious regional air pollution problems and contribute to smog formation; and

WHEREAS: hydraulic fracturing and disposal of fracking byproducts by injection contribute to the risk and severity of earthquake activity; and

WHEREAS, the prosperity, health, safety and well-being of Butte County citizens depend on the availability of dean water, unpolluted air and land free from contamination; and

WHEREAS, state law and the California Constitution expressly reserve the authority of local governments to determine the zoning and land use appropriate for each county.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the County of Butte does hereby declare its right and responsibility to preserve the integrity of local water, land and air quality as the foundation for economic, environmental and human health security by adopting the following ordinance:

1) An immediate ban on land use involving fracking, acidization, and other well stimulation techniques, and related activities, including the disposal of fracking byproducts within the County's boundaries;

2) Full public disclosure and testing of all existing fracking sites and injection/disposal wells, and allowing government access and testing of the chemicals used in fracking operations;

3) This ordinance shall exempt any and all vested rights in well stimulation. A person claiming a vested right must demonstrate to the County through clear and convincing evidence that a vested right exists. If proven to exist, the vested right shall expire upon completion of the first occurrence of the claimant's well stimulation. The drilling, maintenance, or operation of an existing well does not constitute a vested right to use fracking or other unconventional well stimulation;

4) The passage of this ordinance shall require, as needed, amendments to the Butte County General Plan within the elements of land use, water, and air quality;

5) This ordinance shall remain in effect until the Butte County Board of Supervisors determines that the State has enacted and enforced regulations that provide sufficiently thorough protections to public health and safety, and natural resources of the state, including full and advance public disclosure and testing of all fracking sites and injection/disposal wells while allowing government access to and testing of the chemicals used in specific fracking and related operations.[8]

”

Support

Frack Free Butte County logo

Supporters

  • The Citizen Action Network (CAN) started the petition drive campaign called Frack-Free Butte County to put this initiative on the ballot.[2]
  • The Butte Environmental Council also worked with CAN to put the initiative imposing a moratorium on fracking in Butte county on the ballot and is campaigning in support of it.[11]

The chief petitioners who signed the Notice of Intent to Circulate for this initiative were:[12]

  • Charles R. Greenwood, Bangor, CA
  • Joni C. Stellar, Concow, CA
  • John Hale, Paradise, CA
  • Marlene Del Rosario, Oroville, CA

The following individuals signed the official argument in favor of Measure E:[7]

  • Dave Garcia, member of Frack-Free Butt County
  • Marlene Del Rosario, member of Frack-Free Butt County
  • Delamor J. Del Rosario, member of Frack-Free Butt County
  • William Bynum, member of Frack-Free Butt County

Arguments in favor

Proponents of a fracking ban point to the pollution of water as the number one reason to prohibit the practice in Butte County. Dave Garcia, founder of CAN, said, “We must protect our most valuable resource - water. It is vital to our number one industry–agriculture. Groundwater provides domestic water for over 60% of Butte County residents. Fracking wastes vast quantities of water–gone for good. Toxic fracking fluid risks contaminating our groundwater.”[3]

Petitioners and initiative supporters are also concerned with the following alleged side effects of fracking:[3]

  • increased earthquake risks
  • noxious air causing increased cancer, asthma and other illnesses
  • methane contributing to climate change
  • decreased land values
  • increased difficulty in getting property insurance near fracking sites

Official argument

The following official argument was submitted in favor of Measure E:[7]

“

Water is a basic human necessity, it is also the most valuable resource in Butte County. Since agriculture is our county's number one industry – valued at over $869 million—water is the lifeblood of Butte County's economy. Over 10,000 signatures of Butte County residents placed Measure E on the ballot to ensure our precious water is protected from carcinogenic and toxic chemicals.

With California's mandatory drought restrictions we are realizing that water scarcity will be a greater problem in the future. Butte County cannot afford to have our aquifers contaminated as a result of the unconventional fossil fuel extraction method, hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Fracking injects toxic chemicals and thousands of gallons of water into the ground to extract natural gas. This water is forever poisoned.

We have seen, elsewhere in California, what fracking has meant: poisoning of aquifers - the largest source of freshwater used for drinking and irrigation - and destroying food crops and healthy air, thus causing serious health problems such as cancer and neurological disorders. Fracking and injection wells also trigger severe earthquakes as large as 4.6 magnitude in California.

The California Senate mandated the "California Council on Science and Technology Report" which states that fracking "is occurring where many wells have previously been drilled, plugged, abandoned and orphaned." Butte County has over 200 such inactive gas wells which could be targeted for fracking when it is deemed economically feasible. Fracking has already occurred in neighboring Sutter, Glenn and Colusa counties.

Vote YES on Measure E to guarantee a prosperous future with clean water for our farms, our children, and ourselves. Measure E lets the people decide their future, not outside corporations. Vote yes to ban fracking.[8]

”

Opposition

Arguments against

Opponents of fracking bans usually argue that they are harmful to the economy.

Official argument

No official argument was submitted for inclusion on the ballot by the deadline.[7]

Background

Fracking in Butte County

As of February 2015, there were 10 oil or gas wells in Butte County, with many more wells in nearby Glenn County to the left and Tehama County to the upper left. In early 2015, none of the wells had been reported as hydraulically fractured according to Frac Focus.[13]

Below is a map of some of the oil and gas wells in Butte County and surrounding counties as of February 2015. To see where wells are in more specific areas of California, click here.[14]

Map of oil and gas wells in Butte County, Calif., and surrounding counties.

Fracking in California

See also: Fracking in California

The 2016 California Democratic Party Platform included an immediate moratorium on fracking, a position not supported by California's Democratic Governor Jerry Brown. The California 2016 Republican Party Platform did not mention fracking but advocated limiting domestic reliance on foreign sources of fossil fuels. Advocates of fracking argue that the practice results in more jobs, economic growth, higher state tax revenue, and a lower trade deficit. Opponents of fracking argue that the practice results in air pollution, water impacts, and potential human health risks.[15][16][17][18][19][20]

Production
Crude oil and natural gas extraction in California dates back to records of American Indians who collected oil. Commercial production began in 1856; fracking has occurred in California since the 1980s. In 2014, California ranked third highest nationwide for crude oil production. In 2013, the state ranked 16th in natural gas production. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated that California contained 8.62 percent of total U.S. onshore oil reserves and 0.57 percent of total U.S. natural gas reserves in 2013.[21][22][23][24]

Oil pumps in the San Joaquin Valley

Regulation
The Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) is responsible for regulating oil and gas development in California, including fracking and other well stimulation techniques. According to the DOGGR in 2016, the majority of the oil and gas production in California used vertical wells that are drilled into traditional oil and natural gas reservoirs. In 2013, the California State Legislature passed Senate Bill 4 to regulate well stimulation. Senate Bill 4 included interim well regulations that went into effect immediately, separate regulations that went into effect in 2015, the adoption of environmental impact reports in 2015, and the use of well stimulation permits. These permits are publicly available on the DOGGR's website.[17][25][26][27][28]
Note: This information was last updated on June 5, 2017.


Supervisors ordinance

Voting on Fracking
Frackingsite2.jpg
Policy
Fracking policy
Ballot Measures
By state
By year
Not on ballot


On April 8, 2014, Butte County Supervisors voted 4-1 to instruct county staff to draft an ordinance banning the process of fracking. If this ordinance had been approved by the supervisors and was strict enough to satisfy anti-fracking activists, the Citizen Action Network might have dropped its efforts to put this initiative on the ballot. On February 10, 2015, however, the county supervisors voted to reject the proposed ordinance and instructed county officials to draft an ordinance that would allow case-by-case consideration and permits for oil and gas extraction projects instead.[29][30]

Supervisor's ban on waste disposal

In April 2015, the Butte County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to impose a ban on disposing fracking waste within the county.[31]

Supervisor Larry Wahl, who was the only dissenter, argued that conditional permits for waste disposal would be a better way to protect residents and the county's interests. He said, “I think this is an ordinance that is, frankly, a backdoor attempt to ban fracking in Butte County.”[31]

Supervisor Maureen Kirk said, “Although I would prefer to ban fracking, this is a good second step."[31]

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing local ballot measures in California

Proponents of this measure hoped to put it on the November 2014 election ballot, but the Butte County Supervisors commissioned a 30-day review and a lawsuit was filed against the measure which delayed the initiative process beyond the deadline for the 2014 ballot.[32]

Signatures

The Citizen Action Network (CAN), which is orchestrating the Frack-Free Butte County movement, needed to turn in 7,560 valid signatures by June 1, 2014, to qualify its initiative for the ballot. In late May, the group announced that it collected enough signatures to surpass the required threshold and that petitioners were confident their initiative would qualify for the ballot once signatures were investigated by the county registrar of voters. Clerk-Recorder and Chief Elections Officer Candace Grubbsis announced that the county elections office had conducted a 500 signature random sampling of the 8,748 submitted signatures, but it was not conclusive enough to satisfy elections code. Thus, a full check of all the signatures was conducted.[1][3][33]

Enough signatures were found to be valid, qualifying this initiative for the ballot. The Butte County Supervisors, however, commissioned a 30-day review which delayed the initiative process beyond the deadline for the 2014 ballot and required that the measure go on the ballot in June 2016.[32]

Lawsuit

  
Lawsuit overview
Issue: Signature validity; petition sheets were not formatted correctly.
Court: Butte County Superior Court
Ruling: The deficiencies of the petition sheets were not significant enough to impede the initiative process.
Plaintiff(s): Sean P. Welch on behalf of Californians for a Safe Secure Energy FutureDefendant(s): County officials in an official capacity and initiative proponents
Plaintiff argument:
Petition sheets that were submitted had several fatal legal flaws that made them invalid.		Defendant argument:
While the errors on the petition sheets were there, they were technical errors that should not invalidate the entire initiative petition effort.

  Source: Chico ER

On June 6, 2014, attorney Sean P. Welch of the San Rafael-based firm Nielsen, Merksamer, Parrinello, Gross and Leoni filed a lawsuit against the initiative proponents on behalf of an opposing group called Californians for a Safe Secure Energy Future. The lawsuit claimed that the initiative petition sheets that were submitted had several fatal legal flaws that made it invalid. The county clerk halted the process of certifying signatures while the court case was resolved. The suit claimed that the petition did not comply with county and state elections law with regard to wording and formatting. In a preliminary ruling on July 23, 2014, Butte County Superior Court Judge Robert Glusman decided that the petitions' faults, which were admitted by the petitioners, were not significant enough to impede the initiative process.[33]

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Butte County fracking ban. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Butte County, California, Fracking Ban Initiative, Measure E (June 2016) - Google News

Related measures

2016

  1. City of Columbus Community Bill of Rights Fracking Ban Initiative Charter Amendment (November 2016) 
  2. Monterey County, California, Ban on Oil and Gas Drilling, Measure Z (November 2016) Approveda

2015

  1. Athens County Home Rule Charter, Community Bill of Rights and Fracking Waste Prohibition Initiative (November 2015) 
  2. Fulton County Home Rule Charter, Community Bill of Rights and Fracking Prohibition Initiative (November 2015) 
  3. Medina County Home Rule Charter, Community Bill of Rights and Fracking Prohibition Initiative (November 2015) 
  4. Meigs County Home Rule Charter, Community Bill of Rights and Fracking Prohibition Initiative (November 2015) 
  5. Portage County Home Rule Charter, Community Bill of Rights and Fracking Waste Prohibition Initiative (November 2015) 
  6. City of Hermosa Beach E&B Oil Drilling and Production Project, Measure O (March 2015) Defeatedd
  7. City of Youngstown "Community Bill of Rights" and Fracking Ban Initiative Charter Amendment (November 2015) Defeatedd

See also

External links

Basic info

Support

Additional reading

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 ChicoER News, "Butte County group says it collects enough signatures to put fracking ban proposal on ballot," May 29, 2014
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Frack Free Butte County website, accessed March 16, 2014
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Gridley Herald, "Ban fracking in Butte County? Volunteers seek signatures to bring question to the voters," March 11, 2014
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 ChicoER News, "Group is working for Butte County fracking moratorium," December 16, 2013
  5. ↑ ChicoER News, "Fracking: Should Butte County call a moratorium?" January 17, 2014
  6. ↑ LegiScan, "California Senate Bill 4," accessed March 16, 2014
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Butte County Elections Office, "June 7, 2016 Primary Election: Local Ballot Measures," accessed April 12, 2016
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  9. ↑ Butte County Clerk and Recorder, "Impartial Analysis of Measure E," accessed June 27, 2016
  10. ↑ Butte County Clerk and Recorder, "Measure E Full text," accessed June 27, 2016
  11. ↑ Butte Environmental Council website, accessed March 16, 2014
  12. ↑ Butte County Clerk-Recorder's office, "Notice of Intent to Circulate for Frack-Free Butte County initiative," accessed March 16, 2014 (dead link)
  13. ↑ Steve Bohlen, State Oil and Gas Supervisor, "The State of Hydraulic Fracturing in CA: Where are we, and where are we going," accessed March 30, 2016
  14. ↑ Department of Conservation, "Division of Oil, Gas, & Geothermal Resources Well Finder," accessed May 7, 2014
  15. ↑ CNN, "Wildlife, pristine beaches focus of 'aggressive' oil spill cleanup," May 20, 2015
  16. ↑ The New York Times, "‘Fractivists’ Increase Pressure on Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in New York," April 4, 2016
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Berkeley Law, "Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing in California: A Wastewater and Water Quality Perspective," April 2013
  18. ↑ Think Progress, "Fracking is Creating a Rift Between Governor Jerry Brown And Some California Democrats," March 13, 2014
  19. ↑ California Democratic Party, "2016 Platform: Energy and Environment," accessed April 6, 2016
  20. ↑ California Republican Party, "California Republican Party Platform," accessed April 6, 2016
  21. ↑ California Department of Conservation, "California Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources: an Introduction," 1993
  22. ↑ Environmental Engineering & Contracting, Inc., "A Brief History of Hydraulic Fracturing," accessed May 6, 2014
  23. ↑ U.S. Energy Information Administration, "U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves," December 19, 2014
  24. ↑ U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Natural Gas Reserves Summary as of Dec. 31," December 4, 2014
  25. ↑ Department of Conservation, "Well Stimulation," accessed May 7, 2014
  26. ↑ Department of Conservation, "Hydraulic Fracturing in California," accessed May 7, 2014
  27. ↑ Department of Conservation, "Public Information," accessed April 25, 2016
  28. ↑ Department of Conservation, "Well Stimulation Program Requirements," accessed April 25, 2016
  29. ↑ Oroville MR News, "Butte supervisors move to ban 'fracking'," April 8, 2014
  30. ↑ News Review, "Fracking ban fails: Board of Supervisors fails to vote on the controversial practice," February 12, 2015
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 Butte Environmental Council, "Butte County supervisors vote 4-1 to ban fracking waste disposal in county," accessed April 20, 2016
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 ChicoER, "Proposed Butte County fracking ban dies," February 11, 2015
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Chico ER, "Judge clears way for anti-fracking petition to move forward," July 23, 2014
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