Kern County Draft EIR Comments Fractracker Alliance February 11, 2021 2351 Moody Ridge Road Alta, CA 95701 415-890-3722 [email protected]

To whom it may concern,

These comments are submitted on behalf of the FracTracker Alliance, with strong support for revising the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to provide protections for Frontline Communities. The following submission of comments discusses the impact of extraction on air quality in Kern County and provides a thorough examinations of census data showing that existing oil and gas extraction is disproportionately located near vulnerable communities. Emissions from Kern County’s oil and gas extraction sector put Kern residents at elevated risk for a variety of health impacts including preterm birth, asthma incidence, ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, and cancer. Kern County’s proposed Environmental Impact Report that would streamline the approval of 67,000 new oil and gas wells in the County will necessarily further degrade air quality. It is crucial that the EIR is instead revised to eliminate extraction near sensitive populations.

The communities closest to extraction in Kern are most exposed to toxic and carcinogenic volatile organic compounds and other air toxics, in addition to the regional impacts of the highest concentrations of ozone and PM2.5 in the country. These communities deserve special public health protections to mitigate exposures. Additionally these Frontline Communities in Kern County are environmental justice (EJ) communities with lower incomes and higher proportions of non-white and Latino populations than areas of Kern without extraction operations. The analysis that follows directly contradicts the wholly incorrect and misleading EJ assessment conducted by Kern County and included in the draft EIR. Kern County Air Quality

Ambient Levels The contribution of VOC’s from the well-sites in Kern, in addition to the cumulative burden of the Central Valley’s degraded air quality, puts Kern residents at considerable risk. While the local health department continues to report on the increased numbers of health air days, the truth is the mean, median and maximum values of ozone, PM2.5, and VOC concentrations at U.S. EPA monitoring locations in Kern County remained consistently constant at harmful levels from 2015-2019. Emissions documentation The city of Arvin is a prime example to show how some Frontline Communities in California are completely surrounded by an unrelenting barrage of carcinogenic and toxic air pollutants from oil and gas wells. In support of establishing new public health rules that protect Frontline Communities, Earthwork’s Community Empowerment Project, in collaboration with the Central California Environmental Justice Network and FracTracker Alliance, has focused on documenting the uncontrolled emissions from extraction sites within and surrounding the small city of Arvin, CA. Using infrared cameras with state of the art optical gas imaging (OGI) technology, the team documented major leaks at multiple well-sites. Footage from Arvin spans the years from 2016-2020. A collection of this footage has been compiled into the interactive story map found here: https:/storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/5e5f228c6f034814b510031850b32fe2.

These cases of uncontrolled emissions in the story map provide just an example of the inventory of uncontrolled emissions sources not just in Arvin, but in Kern County at large. Finding and filming emissions sources while using OGI cameras in California is not at all uncommon, otherwise there would not be seven prime examples just in the City of Arvin. Prior to 2018, emissions from these well-sites went completely unregulated. Since then “small producers” are regulated for leaks under the California Oil and Gas Rule (COGR), specifically for methane. While COGR is limited to methane leaks, it effectively also regulates other VOC’s including BTEX compounds. Unfortunately, the enforcement of COGR has in practice exempted the largest source of emissions, pressure/vacuum hatches.

Regulations Adequate regulations are not in place to allow more drilling near communities in Kern County. Loopholes in the California Air Resources Board’s oil and gas rule must be addressed immediately, and revised to prevent the cumulative impact of multiple exposure sources from causing additional documented negative health impacts. While the California oil and gas rule (COGR) was developed to address greenhouse gas emissions from small sources, certain aspects of the rule are not being enforced by the local air districts. Rather than requiring tanks to have closed evaporation systems the air districts allow operators to set pressure/vacuum hatches to open and emit toxic and carcinogenic vapors when pressure builds inside tanks. While this is a safety mechanism on tanks, in practice it allows tanks to be consistent sources of exposure that put neighboring communities at risk. Specifically, California Code of Regulations, Title 17, Division 3, Chapter 1, Subchapter 10 Climate Change, Article 4, § 95669, Leak Detection and Repair, Paragraph I states that “Hatches shall remain closed at all times except during sampling, adding process material, or attended maintenance operations.” 2020 Kern County Draft EIR Environmental Justice Assessment Critique

The EJ analysis included in the 2020 Kern County Draft EIR (Chapter 7 pdf pp 1291-1305) uses the spatial bias of US census designated areas to generate false conclusions. The Draft EIR does this in two ways. First, the Draft EIR uses census tracts in the place of smaller census designated areas. The draft EIR states the county conducted, “an analysis of Kern County census tract five-year American Community Survey (ACS) demographic and poverty data for the period was conducted … and the five-year data is the most accurate form of ACS data, has the largest sample size, and is the only ACS data that covers tiny populations.” While this is arguably accurate about the five-year data depending how far you are from the decennial survey, the authors chose to analyze demographics using census tracts. Census tracts are much too large to assess impacts to Kern’s small cities. It is not clear why the authors would have chosen census tracts, rather than the higher resolution ‘census block groups’ ACS dataset, as both datasets are readily available from the US Census Bureau.

Additionally, the draft EIR limits the sociodemographic analysis to only census tracts that contain PLSS QTR/QTRS’s ranked as Tier 1, so that it does not include neighboring communities in different census tracts in the demographical analysis. As discussed in the draft EIR, Tier 1 areas contain four or more operational wells in a tiny area. The draft EIR explicitly states that Tier 1 Qtr(s) do not contain schools or healthcare facilities. This trend is not limited to just the Qtr/Qtr sections. The census tracts containing the Tier 1 sections contain very few sensitive receptors, like schools and healthcare facilities. This is because census tracts and other census designated areas are drawn specifically to differentiate between urban and rural/industrial areas. Census tracts containing oil fields cover large rural areas, and intentionally avoid areas with any significant population density. This results in donuts and other strange shapes, where communities in much smaller census tracts (by area) are enveloped by large rural census tracts containing oil fields. As shown in the maps below, this eliminates all communities with any real population density from the draft EIR EJ analysis, even though they are the communities nearest to the oil fields.

In the maps below, census tracts are compared to census block groups, to show the difference in size and nature of their spatial distribution. In most cases, census tracts encompassing populated areas are tiny, and limited to the urban boundaries of cities. In the cases of Shafter and Arvin, the residential census tracts are encircled by a different donut-shaped census tract, actually containing most of the operational wells and oil fields. While the census tracts of the Frontline Communities are within very short distances of operational oil and gas wells and major fields at large, these areas within the communities are not considered impacted in the Kern 2020 draft EIR EJ analysis. With Lost Hills, the city of Lost Hills is within the same census tract as the Lost Hills oil field and several other extensive oil fields. The city of Lost Hills is the closest community to oil extraction operations in the census tract, and the small city contains just over 50% of the total population within this massive census tract. But because of the sheer size of the census tract, demographics of this Frontline Community are diluted by the vast rural area of northwestern Kern County, which is higher income with demographics 10% less Latino.

Figure 1. Arvin Census Designated Areas. The map shows the city of Arvin and includes both census tracts and census block groups for comparison. It shows operational oil and gas wells in the map, along with 2,500’ buffers. This Frontline Community would be excluded in an analysis that only considers census tracts containing Tier 1 areas negatively impacted by oil and gas extraction operations. The census tracts that make up the majority of the city of Arvin are enveloped on all four sides by one larger census tract that contains most oil and gas wells.

Figure 2. Shafter Census Designated Areas. The map shows the city of Shafter and includes both census tracts and census block groups for comparison. It shows operational oil and gas wells in the map, along with 2,500’ buffers. This Frontline Community would not be included in an analysis that only considers census tracts containing Tier 1 areas negatively impacted by oil and gas extraction operations. The census tract containing the North Shafter oil field forms a donut around the city of Shafter.

Figure 3. Lost Hills Census Designated Areas. The map shows the city of Lost Hills and includes both census tracts and census block groups for comparison. It shows operational oil and gas wells, along with 2,500’ buffers. While the city of Lost Hills may be included in the 2020 Kern draft EIR EJ analysis, the results will not reflect the demographics of the community due to the incredibly large size of the census tract. It does not even entirely fit in the frame of this map!

Figure 4. Bakersfield Census Designated Areas. The map shows the city of Bakersfield and includes both census tracts and census block groups for comparison. It shows operational oil and gas wells, along with 2,500’ buffers. This Frontline Community would not be included in an analysis that only considers census tracts containing Tier 1 areas negatively impacted by oil and gas extraction operations. The oil and gas wells in the Kern River, Kern Front and other oil fields make up their own unique census tract that also includes extensive areas of rural ‘estate’ zoned lands.

Demographics Analysis The following demographic analyses take vital care to avoid the errors and spatial bias that distorted the results of the EJ analysis in the 2020 Kern County draft EIR (chapter 7 PDF pp.1292-1305). In the analysis that follows, we focus more on specific Frontline Communities. Generating county-wide statistics using census block groups could result in too much spatial bias. Census designated areas do not have enough uniformity, and those located in and near oil fields are large in area (though would still provide a more accurate picture in comparison to census tracts). Therefore the analyses that follow take a community- centric approach to more accurately describe the demographics of several of Kern’s largest, most populous, Frontline Communities.

Shafter The City of Shafter, California, is located near over 100 operational wells in the North Shafter oil field, as shown below in the map in Figure 5. Technically, the wells are within a donut-shaped census block group (outlined in blue) that surrounds the limits of the urban census block groups (outlined in pink). Shafter’s population of nearly 20,000 is over 86% Latinx, but the surrounding “donut” with just 2,000 people is about 70% Latinx, much wealthier, and with very low population density. The other neighboring rural census areas housing the rest of the Shafter oil field wells follow this same trend.

Figure 5. The City of Shafter, California is located just to the south of the North Shafter oil field. The map shows the 2,500’ setback distance in tan, as well as the census block groups in both pink and blue. Pink block groups show the urban case populations used to generate the demographic summaries. An uninformed analysis, such as the Kern County EIR, would conclude that the 2,000 individuals who live within the blue “donut” are at the highest risk, because they share the same census designated area as the wells. Notably, the only population center of this census block group (or census tracts, which follow this same trend) is at the opposite end of the block group, far from the Shafter oil field. Instead, the most at-risk community is the urban community of Shafter with high population density; the census block groups within the pink hole of the donut contain the communities and homes nearest the North Shafter field.

Lost Hills, Arvin, and Taft The cities of Lost Hills, Arvin, and Taft are all very similar to Shafter. The cities have densely populated urban centers within or directly next to an oil field. In the maps below in Figure 6, you can see the community of Lost Hills next to the Lost Hills oil field. Lost Hills, like the densely populated cities of Arvin and Taft, are located very close to large scale extraction operations. Census block groups that include the most affected area of Lost Hills, outlined in pink, while surrounding low population density census block groups are shown in blue. Most of the areas outlined in blue are zoned as “estate” and “agriculture” areas. The outlines of the city boundaries are also shown, along with 2,500’ and mile setback distances from currently operational oil and gas wells.

Figure 6. The Unincorporated City of Lost Hills in Kern County, California is located within 2,500’ of the Lost Hills Oil Field. The map shows the 2,500’ setback distance in tan, as well as the census block groups in both pink and blue. Pink block groups show the urban case populations used to generate the demographic summaries.

Lost Hills is another situation where a donut-shaped census area distorts the results of low resolution demographics assessments, such as the one conducted by Kern County in their 2020 Draft EIR (PDF pp. 1292-1305). Almost all of the wells within the Lost Hills oil fields are just outside of a 2,500’ setback, but the incredibly high density of extraction operations results in the combined impact of the sum of these wells on degraded air quality. While stringent setback distances from oil and gas wells are a necessary component of environmental justice, a 2,500’ setback on its own is not enough to reduce exposures and risk for the Frontline Community of Lost Hills. For these Frontline Communities, a setback needs to be much larger to reduce exposures. In fact, limiting a public health intervention to a 2,500′ setback requirement alone is not sufficient to address the environmental health inequities in Lost Hills, Shafter, and other similar communities.

Lost Hill’s nearly 2,000 residents are over 99% Latinx, and over 70% of the households make less than $40,000 in annual income (which is substantially less than the annual median income of Kern County households [at $52,479]). The map in Figure 6 shows that the Lost Hills public elementary school is within 2,500’ of the Lost Hills oil field and within two miles of over 2,600 operational wells, besides the 6,000 operational wells in the rest of the field.

The City of Arvin has 8 operational oil and gas wells within the city limits, and another 71 operational wells within 2 miles. Arvin, with nearly 22,000 people, is over 90% Latinx, and over 60% of the households make less than $40,000 in annual income. Additionally the City of Taft, located directly between the Buena Vista and Midway Sunset Fields, has a demographic profile with a Latinx population at least 10% higher than the rest of southern Kern County. Lost Hills, Arvin, and Taft are among the most affected communities of Kern County and represent a large proportion of the Kern citizens at risk of exposure to localized air quality degradation from oil and gas extraction.

In these cases, if only census tract well counts are considered, like in the 2020 Kern County draft EIR, these Frontline Communities will be completely disregarded. Census tracts are intentionally drawn to separate urban/residential areas from industrial/estate/agricultural areas. The census areas that contain the oil fields are very large and sparsely populated, while neighboring census areas with dense population centers, such as these small cities, are most impacted by the oil and gas fields.

Bakersfield The City of Bakersfield is a unique scenario. It is the largest city in Kern County and as a result suburban developments surround parts of the city. Urban flight has moved much of the wealth into these suburbs. The suburban sprawl has occurred in directions including North toward the Kern River oil field, predominantly on the field’s western flank in Oildale and Seguro. In the map below in Figure 7, these areas are located just to the north of the Kern River.

This is a poignant example of the development of cheap land for housing developments in an area where oil and gas operations already existed; an issue that needs to be considered in the development of setbacks and public health interventions and policies. This small population of predominantly white, middle class neighborhoods shares similar risks as the lower-income Communities of Color who account for most Bakersfield’s urban center. Even though these suburban communities are less vulnerable to the oppressive forces of systemic racism, real estate markets will continue to prioritize cheap land for development, moving communities closer to extraction operations.

Regardless of the implications of urban sprawl and suburban development, it is important to not disregard environmental risks for all communities. The demographics of the at-risk areas of the city of Bakersfield are predominantly Non-white (31%) and Latinx (60%), particularly as compared to the city’s suburbs (15% Non-white and 26% Latinx). About 33,000 people live in the city’s northern suburbs, and another 470,000 live in Bakersfield’s urban city center just to the south of the Kern River oil field. The urban population of Bakersfield is exposed to the local and regional negative air quality impacts of the Kern River and numerous other surrounding oil fields making it a disparately impacted community.

Figure 7. Map of the city of Bakersfield in Kern County, California between several major oil fields including the Kern Front oil field. The map shows the 2,500’ setback distance in tan, and the census block groups in both pink and blue. Pink block groups show the urban case populations used to generate the demographic summaries. Environmental Justice and Frontline Communities

In preparation of the Kern County rule-making process, FracTracker Alliance prepared new socio- demographic analyses of Kern County communities. The analyses that follow have map and assess the distribution of oil and gas wells within Kern County for proximity to sensitive receptors and areas of high population density. This information is vital to understand how the “most drilled County” in the United States manages the risks associated with oil and gas extraction.

Sensitive Receptors According to CalGEM data updated September 1, 2020, there are 78,016 operational oil and gas wells countywide. Of these, 5,906 (7.6%) are within 2,500 feet of a sensitive receptor, receptors being homes, schools, healthcare facilities, child daycare facilities, and elderly care facilities. Thirty-six CHHS healthcare facilities and 35 schools in Kern County are within 2,500 feet of an operational oil and gas well. In fact, 646 operational wells are within 2,500 feet of a school in Kern County. Most of these at- risk, sensitive receptors are in Kern’s cities, large and small.

Urban Drilling Most of the population of Kern County is in its cities. A breakdown of cities is shown in Table 1. Unincorporated, rural areas of Kern County are in majority zoned for large estate landownership and agriculture, and have low population density, rather than designated for residential, single-family homes, apartments, developments, and mobile homes. Oil and gas extraction operations and well sites are dispersed throughout the county, including near and within the residentially-zoned areas of cities. Given that the county’s population density is highest in cities, these areas present the greatest public health risk for exposures to toxic emissions and spills from fossil fuel extraction operations. This analysis focuses specifically on the Frontline Communities of Kern County, where oil and gas extraction is occurring near city limits.

Table 1. Operational oil and gas well counts near cities and sensitive receptors.

High population density Frontline Communities include Lost Hills, Lamont, Taft, Arvin, Shafter and Bakersfield. In Table Y (above) are counts of operational wells within two miles of each city, along with demographic profiles for each incorporated/unincorporated city, based on American Community Survey (2013-2018) census data (downloaded from Census.gov). Population estimates are based on the ACS block groups. For block groups larger than city boundaries, the population was assumed to be within city limits, although in certain cases, such as Arvin, a small section of a block group was eliminated from the city demographic counts. This assumption is validated by the county and city zoning parcels.

Maps of municipal zoning parcels for these cities show the proximity of residential- and urban-zoned parcels to oil and gas extraction in Kern County, and the difference in zoning between the cities and the rest of the county. They also show that census designated areas such as census tracts and block groups are also typically divided by the zoning codes. Cities in Kern contain the vast majority of the county population and are zoned for residences, including apartments, single-family homes, and mobile homes. But by area the vast majority of the county is zoned agriculture and estates, where predominantly wealthy residents and corporations own large holdings. Wells are mostly located on the agriculture and estate zoned parcels. While high population density areas may be located very close to industrial extraction operations, the residential areas and drilling operations are often located on neighboring but separately zoned parcels. If an analysis does not consider the implications of the edge effects, such as the 2020 Draft EIR, these Frontline Communities will be entirely ignored.

Linguistic Isolation One of the major justice failings of the Kern County ordinance was the lack of risk communication with Frontline Communities. Not only were communities not informed of proposed drilling projects, all communications from Kern County and CalGem have been posted solely in English. Any attempts at communication of impacts and notices have excluded non-English speakers. Providing notices and information in non-English languages, at the very least in Spanish, needs to be a top priority for any regulatory body in California. The current permitting policy leverages systematic racism to preclude communities from participating in the decision-making processes that directly affect their families’ health. Access to information is vital for representation. Without representation, communities have no power over their autonomy. Kern County’s Frontline Communities are denied this basic, but absolutely vital right.

In the maps that follow, this analysis shows that the urban census block groups closest to Kern’s major oil and gas fields are some of the most linguistically isolated regions in the country. Densely populated block groups near large oil fields in the cities of Lost Hills, Arvin, Lamont and Weedpatch suffer from linguistic isolation, where up to 80% of households do not have a proficient English speaker. According to the U.S. Census, over 51% of Kern County is Hispanic, and the demographics of the Frontline Communities in these cities are regularly between 80 – 100% Hispanic.

The maps below illustrate that the households in these communities are majority Spanish-speaking households, many with limited English proficiency (all persons aged five and older reported speaking English less than “very well”). Yet Kern County regulators only provide information, notices, and other materials in English. This linguistically segregates power in Kern County, limiting Spanish-speaking Kern residents and citizens from participating in local decision-making processes.

Figure 8. Lost Hills Limited English Spanish-speaking households: This map shows the household percentage that speak Spanish as their primary language, with limited English-speaking proficiency. In these maps, the ACS data is summarized in percentages of one, where, for example, light orange (<.400) refers to areas where 20% – 40% of the households are Spanish speaking and have limited English proficiency.

Figure 9. Lamont Limited English Spanish-speaking households: This map shows the percentage of the households that speak Spanish as their primary language, with limited English-speaking proficiency. In these maps, the ACS data is summarized in percentages of one, where, for example, light orange (<.400) refers to areas where 20% – 40% of the households are Spanish speaking and have limited English proficiency.

Figure 10. Taft Spanish-speaking households: This map shows the percentage of the households that speak Spanish as their primary language. In these maps, the ACS data is summarized in percentages of one, where, for example, light orange (<.400) refers to areas where 20% – 40% of the households are Spanish speaking.

Figure 11. Arvin Limited English Spanish-speaking households: This map shows the percentage of the households that speak Spanish as their primary language, with limited English-speaking proficiency. In these maps, the ACS data is summarized in percentages of one, where, for example, light orange (<.400) refers to areas where 20% – 40% of the households are Spanish speaking, with limited English proficiency.

Figure 12. Shafter Spanish-speaking households: This map shows the percentage of the households that speak Spanish as their primary language. In these maps, the ACS data is summarized in percentages of one, where, for example, light orange (<.400) refers to areas where 20% – 40% of the households are Spanish speaking.

Figure 13. Bakersfield Spanish-speaking households: This map shows the percentage of the households that speak Spanish as their primary language. In these maps, the ACS data is summarized in percentages of one, where, for example, light orange (<.400) refers to areas where 20% – 40% of the households are Spanish speaking.

Permits The majority of Kern County ranks high in “linguistic isolation” according to CalEnviroScreen 3.0. Our analysis shows that 11,244 permits were issued in block groups that CalEnviroscreen 3.0 has ranked in the top 60th percentile for linguistic isolation. As shown in the map below in Figure 14, a total 16,143 permits were issued in block groups that are 40% or more Hispanic, and that number increases to 18,000 (98.1%) permits if you include the permits issued in the Midway-Sunset Field, located on the border of one of Kern’s largest, and predominantly “Hispanic,” census block groups.

Within Kern County, these permits were approved mostly in low income areas, and areas with pre- existing environmental degradation. In the map in Figure 5, below, permit locations were overlaid with CalEnviroScreen 3.0 rankings for existing environmental degradation and median income data from the American Community Survey (2015) to visually show the disparity.

Our analysis shows that 17,978 0f the 18,356 total drilling and reworking permits were issued in census block groups where the median income was at least 20% lower than that of Kern County (Kern median income = $51,579). Additionally, these areas are more impacted by existing sources of pollution. In fact, 18,298 (99.7%) permits were issued in census blocks designated as the above the 60th percentile of those suffering from existing pollution burden by CalEnviroScreen 3.0.

Figure 14. Map of areas with over 40% Hispanic demographics. The shades of yellow to red census blocks represent the 60th percentile and above linguistic isolation. See the interactive version here.

Economic Disparity These six cities and their Frontline Communities experience a disparity of exposure to environmental pollutants, particularly emissions from oil and gas extraction operations — as well as pesticides, regionally degraded air quality (from ozone and particulate matter), and contaminated groundwater. Besides the risk disparity, these communities are also vulnerable from several other factors, including disparities in economic opportunity, demographics, and access to information.

Compared to the rest of Kern County, Frontline Communities in these unincorporated and incorporated cities have less financial opportunity. The maps in Figures below show block groups and the proportions of the population with annual median incomes less than or equal to $40,000. This value was chosen because it is less than 80% of the countywide median income of $51,579 in 2018. For comparison, the statewide median income is $75,277. Lack of economic opportunity for these communities limits the ability to leverage financial resources to protect their community health and to maintain local-level financial independence from corporate influence. In Lost Hills, over 80% of the city block group closest to the Lost Hills Oil Field has a median income less than or equal to $40,000. The same trend is visible for Lamont, Taft, and Arvin. The only section of Taft with higher annual median income is sparsely populated and predominantly open space, as confirmed in Figure X. For the areas of Frontline Community block groups within 2,500 feet of an operational well, 36% of the population makes under $40,000; 80% of the Kern County annual median income is $41,000.

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