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22. Beverly Hills Becomes First City in California to Pass Fracking Ban

Seen yesterday on Twitter:

http://ecowatch.com/2014/04/24/beverly-hills-pass-fracking-ban/

Beverly Hills Becomes First City in California to Pass Fracking Ban

Food & Water Watch | April 24, 2014 10:44 am |

On Tuesday night, Beverly Hills became the first city in California to pass a ban on fracking and related extreme well stimulation techniques with a unanimous vote. The ordinance not only would make it unlawful to use hydraulic fracturing, acidizing or any other well stimulation technique from any surface area in the city—it also prohibits these activities from any site outside city limits that would drill and extract oil and gas underneath the city. The ordinance will now return to the Beverly Hills City Council for its final reading at an upcoming formal meeting where a second vote will put the law into effect.

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“I do believe in local control, and we are exerting our power as a city to say fracking is not a compatible land use in Beverly Hills,” said Councilmember John Mirsch. “But this issue goes beyond that. This is not a ‘not in my backyard issue’—it should not be in anyone’s back yard. And we also need to think long-term, even if our city is not a center of drilling—injecting millions of gallons of water and chemicals at high pressure into the earth can’t be good. Asbestos and smoking was once also considered safe. Fracking is not worth the risk.”

All four councilmembers in attendance voted in favor of the ban including Mayor Lili Bosse, Vice Mayor Julian A. Gold M.D., Councilmember John A. Mirsch and Councilmember William W. Brien M.D.

“We congratulate the Beverly Hills City Council for passing a ban on fracking and related toxic extraction techniques. Given its proximity to oil and gas activity, it makes sense for Beverly Hills to join the growing number of cities and counties that have acted to protect their residents from severe health, safety and environmental impacts,” said Brenna Norton, Southern California organizer of Food & Water Watch. “We look forward to seeing this ordinance take effect and setting a positive example for other communities and Gov. Brown, who should immediately enact a statewide moratorium to protect all Californians.”

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