Special thanks go to Dan Gougherty of elkgrovenews.net for writing this very nice article about two of my articles being cited in Project Censored's #2 Story. Following the article are the links to the coverage of the Project Censored Top 10 by the East Bay Express and Reno News and Review and a link to the Project Censored website.

I've also attached my two investigative pieces about fracking wastewater and Big Oil Money and Power that were cited by Project Censored.

http://www.elkgrovenews.net/...

EGN Contributor Dan Bacher's Reporting on Illegal Dumping of Fracking Wastewater is Project Censored's #2 Story of 2015

Written By EGN on Sunday, October 18, 2015 | 10:00

If being censored by corporate mainstream media were a badge of honor, Elk Grove News contributor and Fish Sniffer managing editor Dan Bacher would be highly decorated.

According to ProjectCensored.org, Bacher's 2014 story on the oil industry's illegal dumping of waste water into Central California's aquifers was the second most significant story not covered by mainstream media outlets. In their summary Project Censored noted "In May 2015, the Los Angeles Times ran a front-page feature on Central Valley crops irrigated with treated oil field water; however, the Los Angeles Times report made no mention of the Center for Biological Diversity’s findings regarding fracking wastewater contamination."

In addition, months earlier Bacher also reported on the cozy relationship between big oil and California state legislatures who received over $63 million to persuade them to continue fracking in the state. Connecting the dots, Bacher and Danny Shaw of Maplight.org documented that California state "senators who voted against the moratorium [SB 1132] received fourteen times more money in campaign contributions from the oil industry than those who voted for it.

Congratulations to Bacher for his tenacity in reporting on this important matter that the mainstream media has ignored. The entire list of the top 25 censored stories can be viewed here.

2. Coverage of Project Censored Top 10 Stories:

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/...

https://www.newsreview.com/...

http://www.projectcensored.org/...

3. Dan Bacher, “Massive Dumping of Wastewater into Aquifers Shows Big Oil’s Power in California,” IndyBay, October 11, 2014, http://www.indybay.org/....

Massive dumping of wastewater into aquifers shows Big Oil's power in California

Oil industry illegally injected nearly 3 billion gallons of wastewater



by Dan Bacher

As the oil industry spent record amounts on lobbying in Sacramento and made record profits, documents obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity reveal that almost 3 billion gallons of oil industry wastewater were illegally dumped into Central California aquifers that supply drinking water and irrigation water for farms.

The Center said the wastewater entered the aquifers through at least nine injection disposal wells used by the oil industry to dispose of waste contaminated with fracking (hydraulic fracturing) fluids and other pollutants. (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/...)

The documents also reveal that Central Valley Regional Water Quality Board testing found high levels of arsenic, thallium and nitrates, contaminants sometimes found in oil industry wastewater, in water-supply wells near these waste-disposal operations.

The illegal dumping took place in a state where Big Oil is the most powerful corporate lobby and the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) is the most powerful corporate lobbying organization, alarming facts that the majority of the public and even many environmental activists are not aware of.

An analysis of reports filed with the California Secretary of State shows that the oil industry collectively spent over $63 million lobbying California policymakers between January 1, 2009 and June 30, 2014. The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), led by President Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the former chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create so-called "marine protected areas" in Southern California, topped the oil industry lobby spending with $26,969,861.

The enormous influence that the oil lobby exerts over legislators, agency leaders, the Governor's Office and state and federal regulatory officials is the reason why Big Oil has been able to contaminate groundwater aquifers, rivers and ocean waters in California for decades with impunity. The contamination of aquifers becomes even more alarming when one considers that California is now reeling from a record drought where people, farms, fish and wildlife are suffering from extremely low conditions in reservoirs, rivers and streams.

Hollin Kretzmann, a Center attorney, criticized state regulators for failing to do their job of protecting precious water supplies from oil industry pollution - and urged Governor Jerry Brown to take action to halt the environmentally destructive practice of fracking in California. (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/...)

"Clean water is one of California’s most crucial resources, and these documents make it clear that state regulators have utterly failed to protect our water from oil industry pollution," said Kretzmann. "Much more testing is needed to gauge the full extent of water pollution and the threat to public health. But Governor Brown should move quickly to halt fracking to ward off a surge in oil industry wastewater that California simply isn’t prepared to dispose of safely.”

Kretzmann said the State Water Resources Control Board "confirmed beyond doubt" that at least nine wastewater disposal wells have been injecting waste into aquifers that contain high-quality water that is supposed to be protected under federal and state law. (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/...)

"Thallium is an extremely toxic chemical commonly used in rat poison," according to a statement from the Center. "Arsenic is a toxic chemical that can cause cancer. Some studies show that even low-level exposure to arsenic in drinking water can compromise the immune system’s ability to fight illness."

“Arsenic and thallium are extremely dangerous chemicals,” said Timothy Krantz, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Redlands. “The fact that high concentrations are showing up in multiple water wells close to wastewater injection sites raises major concerns about the health and safety of nearby residents.”

The Center obtained a letter from the State Water Resources Control Board to the federal Environmental Protection Agency stating that the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Board has confirmed that injection wells have been dumping oil industry waste into aquifers that are legally protected under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

The State Water Board also concedes that another 19 wells may also have contaminated protected aquifers, and dozens more have been injecting waste into aquifers of unknown quality.

"The Central Valley Water Board tested eight water-supply wells out of more than 100 in the vicinity of these injection wells," according to the Center. "Arsenic, nitrate and thallium exceeded the maximum contaminant level in half the water samples."

The Vote No on Prop. 1 (Water Bond) Campaign responded to the Center's release of the documents by pointing out the irony of the fact that the same Legislature that nearly unanimously voted to put the water bond on the November ballot also rejected a fracking moratorium in California

"Prop 1 folks tout how it will provide funding to clean up groundwater in the SJ Valley," according to a statement from the campaign. "This is something we want to see too. But if fracking is unregulated and fracking wells are already leaking, shouldn't we work on the fracking moratorium first? Or at least simultaneously. And the legislators who passed Prop 1 voted against the fracking moratorium."

It is no surprise that the State Senators who voted no on the fracking moratorium bill received 14 times more money in campaign contributions from the oil industry than those who voted no on the measure. (http://www.indybay.org/...)

Restore the Delta responded to the report also: "At RTD, we have always known that water needs to be shared from the Delta- we argue that it must be at levels that are sustainable for the estuary. When we see items like this, however, it's hard to maintain that reasonable stance. We predicted a year ago that SJ Valley fracking sites would contaminate groundwater, making the region more dependent on water exports."

Long term threat posed by waste water disposal may be even worse

The Center said that while the current extent of contamination is cause for "grave concern," the long-term threat posed by the unlawful wastewater disposal may be even more devastating.

"Benzene, toluene and other harmful chemicals used in fracking fluid are routinely found in flowback water coming out of oil wells in California, often at levels hundreds of times higher than what is considered safe, and this flowback fluid is sent to wastewater disposal wells. Underground migration of chemicals like benzene can take years," the Center stated.

The state’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) shut down 11 Kern County oil field injection wells and began scrutinizing almost 100 others that were potentially contaminating protected groundwater. The Environmental Protection Agency, which has ultimate legal authority over underground injection, ordered state officials to provide an assessment of the water-contamination risk within 60 days, and the letter from the state Water Board confirms that illegal contamination has occurred at multiple sites.

California’s oil and gas fields produce billions of gallons of contaminated wastewater each year, much of which is injected underground. California has an estimated 2,583 wastewater injection wells, of which 1,552 are currently active, according to the Center.

Wastewater injection wells are located throughout the state, from the Chico area in Northern California to Los Angeles in Southern California and even include offshore wells near Santa Barbara. Kern County in the Southern San Joaquin Valley is home to the largest number of oil wells in California.

The fracking wastewater poses a huge threat not only to human health, but to fish including endangered and threatened salmon and steelhead and wildlife as the water makes its way to rivers and streams. The last thing that imperiled salmon and steelhead populations need, as they face a combination of drought and poor management of the state's reservoirs and rivers by the state and federal agencies, is the threat of increased pollution of their habitat by benzene, toluene and other harmful fracking chemicals,

A recent study by the US Drought Monitor reported that 58 percent of California is experiencing “exceptional drought,” the most serious category on the agency’s five-level scale. A fracking job can require as much as 140,000 to 150,000 gallons of water per day. (http://www.desmogblog.com/...)

For more information, go to: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/

Big Oil power and money dominates California politics

As an investigative journalist who has written many articles documenting oil industry power and money in California politics, I find it extremely important to review recent financial data on the oil industry in California. This data reveals how the regulated have captured the regulators in California, just like Wall Street big banks captured the regulatory apparatus.

While there are many powerful industries based in California, ranging from the computer and high tech industry to corporate agribusiness, no industry has more influence over the state's environmental policies than Big Oil. Unfortunately, most of the public and even many environmental activists have no idea how much influence the oil industry has on the Governor, the Legislature and state panels and environmental processes in the state.

An ongoing analysis of reports filed with the California Secretary of State shows that the oil industry collectively spent over $63 million lobbying California policymakers between January 1, 2009 and June 30, 2014. The Western States Petroleum Association led the oil industry lobby spending with $26,969,861.

"The oil industry is spending over $1 million per month lobbying Sacramento, with the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) as the second overall leading spender so far in 2014 with almost $3 million spent in the past six months," according to Stop Fooling California (http://www.stopfoolingca.org), an online and social media public education and awareness campaign that highlights oil companies efforts to mislead and confuse Californians. "Chevron, with $1.3 million spent so far in 2014, is also among the top five. If money speaks, Big Oil has the loudest voice in politics."

WSPA was California’s second overall leading lobbyist spender, with $1.5 million spent in the second quarter of 2014. This is the second largest quarter going back to January 2009.

WSPA is on pace to exceed the previous record annual (2012) total in 2014. WSPA has paid over $2 million to KP Public Affairs, the state’s highest paid lobbying firm, during the current (2013-14) legislative session, according to the group. WSPA spent $4,670,010 on lobbying in 2013 and $5,698,917 in 2012.

Chevron is the fifth overall spender in California through the second quarter of 2014, having spent $784,757 that quarter, an increase of nearly $300,000 over the prior quarter.

Yet these millions of dollars are just chump change to Big Oil, since the five big oil companies made over $93 billion in profits in 2013. This year, Big Oil's profits are estimated to be over $72 billion to date, based on information from The Center for American Progress (http://www.americanprogress.org/...)

A report released on April 1, 2014 by the ACCE Institute and Common Cause reveals that Big Oil has spent $143.3 million on political candidates and campaigns – nearly $10 million per year and more than any other corporate lobby – over the past fifteen years. (http://www.indybay.org/...)

But Big Oil exerts its influence not just by making campaign contributions, but also by lobbying legislators at the State Capitol. The oil industry spent $123.6 million to lobby elected officials in California from 1999 through 2013. This was an increase of over 400 percent since the 1999-2000 legislative session, when the industry spent $4.8 million. In 2013-2014 alone, the top lobbyist employer, Western States Petroleum Association, spent $4.7 million.

Big Oil's enormous influence over the California Legislature was exposed when Governor Jerry Brown in September 2013 signed Senator Fran Pavley's Senate Bill 4, the green light for fracking bill, after oil industry lobbyists gutted the already weak bill to "regulate" fracking in California. The bill “undermines existing environmental law and leaves Californians unprotected from fracking and other dangerous and extreme fossil fuel extraction techniques,” stated Californians Against Fracking, a statewide coalition of over 100 organizations now calling for a moratorium on fracking.

Oil industry officials serve on regulatory and advisory panels

The oil industry also exerts its muscle by serving on and dominating state and federal regulatory and advisory panels. For example, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the President of the Western States Petroleum Association, chaired the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create alleged "marine protected areas" in Southern California. She also served on the task forces to create "marine protected areas" on the Central Coast, North Central Coast and South Coast.

It is no surprise that the so-called "marine protected areas" created under the helm of Reheis-Boyd and other corporate operatives failed to protect the ocean from fracking offshore oil drilling, pollution, corporate aquaculture, military testing and all human impacts on the ocean other than sustainable fishing and gathering.

Ironically, while WSPA President Catherine Reheis-Boyd served on the task forces to "protect" the ocean, the same oil industry that the "marine guardian" represents was conducting environmentally destructive hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations off the Southern California coast.

Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and media investigations by Associated Press and truthout.org reveal that the ocean has been fracked at least 203 times in the past 20 years, including the period from 2004 to 2012 that Reheis-Boyd served as a "marine guardian.” (http://www.usatoday.com/...)

To make matters worse, Reheis-Boyd also serves on a federal government marine protected areas panel. The National Marine Protected Areas Center website lists Reheis-Boyd as a member of a 20 member MPA (Marine Protected Areas) Advisory Committee.

In addition to the oil industry spending exerting its enormous power through campaign contributions, lobbying legislators and serving on state and federal regulatory panels, the oil industry also has set up "Astroturf" groups, including the California Drivers Alliance and Fueling California, to fight against environmental regulations protecting our air, water, land, fish, wildlife and human health.

"The set up is basically this: some Californian (who is supposed to be your proxy) regurgitates Big Oil talking points that don't resemble reality, equating protecting Big Oil's profits with protecting the people," according to Stop Fooling California.

Most recently, the Monterey Herald reported that San Benito United for Energy Independence, the oil and gas industry-funded group behind a slate of ads airing throughout the Central Coast on TV and radio, raised more than $1.7 million to fight Measure J, an initiative to ban fracking in San Benito Count that goes before the voters on November 4. "While the group touts its local ties, none of the money funding Measure J's opposition comes from San Benito County," said reporter Jason Hoppin.

"San Benito United is entirely funded by an industry-backed group called Californians for Energy Independence. Oil companies have been pumping millions into that group in the last few months, including $2.5 million from San Ramon-based Chevron, $2.1 million from San Ardo-based Aera Energy and $2 million from Houston-based Occidental Petroleum," said Hoppin. (http://www.montereyherald.com/...)

Politicians like Governor Jerry Brown like to portray California as a "green" leader, but the reality is that the oil industry, along with agribusiness and other corporate lobbies, exerts enormous influence over the state's environmental policies, making the claims that California is a "green" state highly dubious.

4. Dan Bacher, “Senators Opposing Fracking Moratorium Received 14x More Money from Big Oil,” IndyBay, June 7, 2014, http://www.indybay.org/....

Senators opposing fracking moratorium received 14x more money from Big Oil

By Dan Bacher

Five days after a bill calling for a moratorium on fracking in California failed in the State Senate, a non partisan watchdog group revealed that those who voted against the legislation or abstained from voting on it received many times more in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry than those who supported the bill.

State Senators voting 'NO' on the fracking moratorium bill on Thursday, May 29 received 14 times as much money the oil and gas industry, on average ($25,227), as senators voting 'YES' ($1,772) from January 1, 2009 to December 21, 2012, according to MapLight, a non profit organization revealing money's influence on politics.

The report also said the Democrats who abstained from voting on the moratorium received, on average, 4.5 times as much money from the oil and gas industry as the Democrats who voted 'YES'.

Under intense pressure from the Western States Petroleum Association, Chevron, Occidental Petroleum and other oil companies, the Senate failed to pass Senate Bill 1132, legislation that would have placed a moratorium on oil and gas well stimulation treatments, including hydraulic and acid fracturing, until the government completes a scientific study of the practices' impacts on human and environmental health. The bill was authored by Senators Holly Mitchell and Mark Leno.

The final vote was 16-16, with eight Senators not voting. Twenty-one votes were required for the bill to pass. Three of those with no vote recorded – Leland Yee, Rod Wright and Ron Calderon - have been suspended from the Senate due to corruption allegations.

"If the five active senators who abstained from voting -all Democrats-voted in favor, the moratorium would have passed," according to a statement from MapLight. “The Democrats who abstained from voting on the moratorium have received, on average, 4.5 times as much money from the oil and gas industry as the Democrats who voted 'YES'."

Senator Jeanne Fuller (R), who received $52,300 from the oil and gas industry, more than any other senator voting on the bill, voted 'NO'.

Fuller is known not only for her big contributions from the oil and gas industry but from corporate agribusiness in Kern County. It was Fuller who sponsored legislation to eradicate striped bass in the Bay-Delta estuary, a bill that failed twice due to massive opposition by recreational anglers and grassroots environmentalists.

The oil industry contributions to the Senators voting NO were as follows:

Joel Anderson (R) $18,750

Tom Berryhill (R): $15,000

Anthony Cannella (R): $40,150

Lou Correa (D): $11,350

Jean Fuller (R): $52,300

Ted Gaines (R): $27,250

Cathleen Galgiani (D): $24,950

Ed Hernandez (D): $23,250

Bob Huff (R): $45,550

Steve Knight (R): $24,050

Mike Morrell (R): $19,300

Norma Torres (D): $13,250

Mimi Walters (R): $51,000

Mark Wyland (R) - $12,250

When one adds in the oil industry contributions for 2013, the campaign contributions mushroom. For example, Fuller received $76,850 from 2009 to 2013, while Galgiani received $47,600.

The oil and gas industry contributions to those Democrats who abstained from voting were as follows:

Marty Block: $2000

Jerry Hill: $3,950

Ben Hueso: $12,400

Ricardo Lara: $21,300

Richard Roth: $ 0

The MapLight analysis of campaign contributions from PACs and employees of oil and gas interests to legislators in office on the day of the vote was during the period from January 1, 2009 - December 31, 2012. The National Institute of Money in State Politics was the data source for the campaign contributions.

For more information, go to: http://maplight.org/...

Big oil spent $123.6 million on lobbying from 1999 through 2013

The failure of the fracking moratorium bill on May 29 is a classic example of the inordinate power that the oil industry, the most powerful corporate lobby in Sacramento, exerts over California politics.

A report released on April 1, 2014 by the ACCE Institute and Common Cause reveals that Big Oil has spent $143.3 million on political candidates and campaigns – nearly $10 million per year and more than any other corporate lobby – over the past fifteen years. (http://www.commoncause.org/...)

But Big Oil exerts its influence not just by making campaign contributions, but by lobbying legislators at the State Capitol. The Western States Petroleum Association, the most powerful corporate lobbying group in Sacramento. spent $123.6 million to lobby elected officials in California from 1999 through 2013. This was an increase of over 400 percent since the 1999-2000 legislative session, when the industry spent $4.8 million.

The combination of the $143.3 million in political candidate and campaign contributions and $123.6 million spent lobbying legislators amounts to a stunning $266.9 million over the past 15 years.

The report, “Big Oil Floods the Capitol: How California’s Oil Companies Funnel Funds Into the Legislature,” also exposes how the oil and gas lobby has spent nearly $15 million to influence Sacramento lawmakers halfway through the 2014-15 legislative session. The record is $25.5 million, set in 2011.

While the mainstream media failed to cover the Common Cause/ACCE report, the LA Times did report on the Maplight report on Big Oil's campaign contributions to legislators voting no or abstaining on the fracking moratorium bill (http://touch.latimes.com/...). This is a very positive development - and I hope that the LA Times reporters and editors do some more indepth research, as I have done, into the power of the oil industry in California.

Big Oil lobbyist oversaw creation of Southern California "marine protected areas"

It is critical to realize that the oil and chemical industry exerts its influence not just through spending enormous sums on lobbying and contributions to political campaigns, but by serving on state and federal government panels. This is a topic that the LA Times and other mainstream media outlets have failed to explore.

You won’t find any mention in the LA Times or other corporate media outlets about one of the biggest conflicts of interest in California environmental history – the key leadership role that a big oil lobbyist played in the creation of alleged “marine protected areas” in California.

Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Association, served as the Chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create so-called "marine protected areas" in Southern California, as well as sitting on the task forces for the Central Coast, North Central Coast and North Coast.

The alleged "Yosemites of the Sea" created under Reheis-Boyd's "leadership" fail to protect the ocean from fracking, oil drilling, pollution, military testing, corporate aquaculture and all human impacts on the ocean other than sustainable fishing and tribal gathering. These “marine protected areas” are good for big oil and ocean industrialists – and bad for recreational anglers, Tribal gatherers, commercial fishermen and the people of California.

At the same time that Reheis-Boyd, MLPA Initiative advocates and state officials were greenwashing one of the most corrupt environmental processes in California history, the oil industry was fracking like crazy in Southern California ocean waters.

“In waters off Long Beach, Seal Beach and Huntington Beach — some of the region's most popular surfing strands and tourist attractions — oil companies have used fracking at least 203 times at six sites in the past two decades, according to interviews and drilling records obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request,” reported USA Today on October 19, 2013. (http://www.usatoday.com/...)

The greenwashing of Big Oil's role in "marine protection"

I suspect that the failure of the LA Times and other mainstream media outlets to report on the prominent role the Western States Petroleum President played in the crafting of fake “marine protected areas” in southern California is because their reporters, editors and publishers have been bamboozled by state officials and corporate “environmentalists” as to what really happened in the MLPA Initiative process.

For example, an article published in the LA Times on December 19, 2012, completely greenwashed the MLPA Initiative fiasco, claiming that "California officials today completed the largest network of undersea parks in the continental United States — 848 square miles of protected waters that reach from the Oregon state line to the Mexican border." (http://www.latimes.com/...)

This piece, as in previous ones in the Times, failed to address any of the real, substantial criticisms of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative process by grassroots environmentalists, Indian Tribe members, commercial fishermen, recreational anglers and advocates of democracy and transparency in government, including the role that the Western States Petroleum Association President played in the creation of these alleged “undersea parks.”

The reporter, Kenneth R. Weiss, portrayed a false conflict of "fishermen versus environmentalists" over the MLPA Initiative when the real conflict is one of public policy between those that favor corporate greenwashing and the privatization of conservation and those who oppose corporate greenwashing and the privatization of conservation. The reporter fails to mention any of "inconvenient truths" about the MLPA Initiative, including Catherine Reheis-Boyd’s chairing of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force.

Not only did Reheis-Boyd help craft oil industry-friendly "marine protected areas" in California, but she currently sits on a federal marine protected areas panel. The National Marine Protected Areas Center website lists Reheis-Boyd as a member of a 20 member MPA (Marine Protected Areas) Advisory Committee. (http://www.counterpunch.org/...)

Reheis Boyd has also "served" on other government and non-profit organization commissions and committees, as revealed in her biography published on the Department of Fish and Wildlife website (http://www.dfg.ca.gov/...):

"Reheis-Boyd was appointed by the Governor as a California petroleum industry representative on the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission and is a member of the California Chamber of Commerce Natural Resources and Policy Committee. She has chaired the Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce Air Quality Committee, and was past president of the Sacramento chapter of the Air & Waste Management Association. She has also served as past president of the Kern County Chapter of the American Lung Association, and is a past recipient of the Bureau of Land Management's State Director's Oil and Gas Award for Special Achievement."

To really understand the power of Big Oil in California, you have to look at not just the money spent on campaign contributions and lobbying, but also at the role the oil industry plays on government panels and in manipulating environmental processes.

