Center for Biological Diversity

Media Advisory, December 13, 2016

Contact:  Patrick Sullivan, (415) 517-9364, psullivan@biologicaldiversity.org

Californians to Protest Oil Industry's Proposal for First New Offshore Frack

After Trump's Victory, Thursday Rally Urges New Moratorium on Toxic Technique

CAMARILLO, Calif.— Conservationists, coastal residents and members of the Chumash tribe will protest Thursday morning against a proposal for the first new offshore frack near California's coast since federal officials lifted a moratorium on the dangerous oil-extraction process.

Thursday’s rally outside the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management office in Camarillo follows an application by the oil company DCOR, LLC to frack an offshore well in the wildlife-rich Santa Barbara Channel. The company is seeking permission to discharge fracking flowback fluid into the ocean.

The protest is being organized by the Center for Biological Diversity and Food & Water Watch, Santa Barbara Sierra Club, Wishtoyo Foundation, Citizens for Responsible Oil and Gas (CFROG) and SoCal 350 Climate Action. Activists are urging federal officials to deny the permit application and reestablish the offshore fracking moratorium that was lifted in May.

What:  Rally against first new offshore frack on the California coast
   
When: Thursday, Dec. 15, at 11 a.m.
   
Where: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management office, 760 Paseo Camarillo, Camarillo
   
Who: California residents and members of the Center for Biological Diversity and Food & Water Watch, Santa Barbara Sierra Club, Wishtoyo Foundation, Citizens for Responsible Oil and Gas and SoCal 350 Climate Action.

When President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, conservationists fear his administration will try to vastly expand offshore drilling and fracking along the California coast. Oil companies have previously expressed interest in drilling federal waters near Malibu and Orange County — even as far north as Humboldt County.

Prominent scientists, state officials and members of Congress have urged the federal government to halt fracking off the California coast and stop oil companies from dumping fracking waste fluid into the ocean.

Offshore fracking blasts vast volumes of water mixed with toxic chemicals beneath the seafloor at pressures high enough to fracture rocks. The high pressures used in offshore fracking increase the risk of well failure and oil spills.

Oil companies have federal permission to annually dump up to 9 billion gallons of waste fluid, including fracking chemicals, into the ocean off the California coast. At least 10 fracking chemicals used in offshore fracking in California could kill or harm marine species, including sea otters. The California Council on Science and Technology has identified some common fracking chemicals to be among the most toxic in the world to marine animals.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

www.biologicaldiversity.org

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