WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – In 2015, the county’s residents and members of the Center protested outside a state-run "aquifer exemption" hearing in San Luis Obispo.
“Today’s lawsuit faults regulators for not analyzing the aquifer exemption plan’s risks as required by the California Environmental Quality Act,” the release stated on Wednesday. “The suit asks the court to set aside the state’s approval of the aquifer exemption and halt oil company injection into this underground water until regulators have complied with CEQA.”
The organization warned the legislatures about significant changes in pressures underground and the potential for inducing fractures that could carry dangerous elements into other water sources.
"Oil industry wastewater can contain high levels of benzene and other cancer-causing chemicals. State oil officials’ own study detected benzene levels in oil wastewater at thousands of times the federal limits for drinking water," the release added.