From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
Sat Oct 1 2016 (Updated 10/04/16)
Judge Halts Federal Plan for Massive California Fracking
Legal Victory Overturns Plan to Open 1 Million Acres of California Public Land to Fracking
Citing potential threats to water supplies and endangered wildlife, a U.S. district judge on September 6 overturned a Bureau of Land Management plan to open more than one million acres of public land and mineral estate in central California to drilling and fracking. The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity and Los Padres ForestWatch, represented by Earthjustice.
The court ruled that the Bureau of Land Management failed to analyze the risks of fracking and other dangerous oil and gas extraction techniques when preparing a resource management plan that would have allowed drilling on vast stretches of land in California’s Central Valley, the southern Sierra Nevada, and in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.
The ruling notes that BLM officials estimate that oil companies would frack 25 percent of new wells drilled on these lands. Yet the bureau’s 1,073-page management plan contained just three brief mentions of fracking and offered no analysis of fracking pollution’s threats to endangered species or California’s water supplies. Fracking blasts huge amounts of water mixed with toxic chemicals underground to release oil and gas.
Read More
The court ruled that the Bureau of Land Management failed to analyze the risks of fracking and other dangerous oil and gas extraction techniques when preparing a resource management plan that would have allowed drilling on vast stretches of land in California’s Central Valley, the southern Sierra Nevada, and in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.
The ruling notes that BLM officials estimate that oil companies would frack 25 percent of new wells drilled on these lands. Yet the bureau’s 1,073-page management plan contained just three brief mentions of fracking and offered no analysis of fracking pollution’s threats to endangered species or California’s water supplies. Fracking blasts huge amounts of water mixed with toxic chemicals underground to release oil and gas.

2025-07-29
Bay Area Gray Whale Deaths at Highest Level Since 2000
Environment & Forest Defense
| East Bay
| California
| U.S.
| Animal Liberation2025-07-28
Senator Alex Padilla Called Out for Supporting Bills That Fund Genocide
Health, Housing & Public Services
| Anti-War
| San Francisco
| California
| U.S.
| International
| Palestine2025-07-25
Musk-Owned Company Subjects Primates and Pigs to Deadly Brain Chip Implants
East Bay
| Animal Liberation2025-07-25
Wells Fargo Funds Toxic Pipelines, Genocide, and Deportation
Front Page
| Environment & Forest Defense
| Racial Justice
| Global Justice & Anti-Capitalism
| San Francisco
| U.S.
| International
| Palestine
| Immigrant Rights2025-07-24
Stakeholder Group Takes Action After Exposure to Fire's Massive Pollution Cloud
Environment & Forest Defense
| Health, Housing & Public Services
| Santa Cruz Indymedia2025-07-22
Palantir Makes Billions Off Surveillance, Deportation, and Genocide
Front Page
| Anti-War
| Global Justice & Anti-Capitalism
| Peninsula
| U.S.
| Palestine
| Immigrant Rights2025-07-21
Program Pioneered Harm Reduction Model that Centered Voices of Drug Users
Front Page
| Health, Housing & Public Services
| Drug War
| Santa Cruz Indymedia2025-07-20
Protests Continue at Trader Joe's Stores Over Chicken Supplier Petaluma Poultry
Front Page
| East Bay
| North Bay / Marin
| California
| Animal Liberation2025-07-16
Kayakers Declare We Must Fight to Defend Rivers and Wild Lands from Donald Trump
Front Page
| Environment & Forest Defense
| Central Valley
| California
| U.S.
| Government & Elections2025-02-22
Musk and Trump Blasted for Attempting Fascist Takeover
Front Page
| Labor & Workers
| Central Valley
| San Francisco
| South Bay
| East Bay
| Peninsula
| North Bay / Marin
| California
| U.S.
| Government & Elections
| Santa Cruz Indymedia2025-01-14
Healthcare Profiteers Encounter Protest at Investors Gathering
Front Page
| Health, Housing & Public Services
| San Francisco
| Palestine
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.
Topics
More
Search Indybay's Archives
Advanced Search
►
▼
IMC Network