When you clean your bedroom, dining room, or living room area, do you stuff rotting food under the rug or in your couch cushions? ?Well, a major oil company by the name of Vintage Production California LLC?is striking out on its chores, so to speak. For 12 days, Vintage Oil Company illegally dumped?the chemical remains of fracked oil into the ground in Kern County, California. What they weren’t aware of, however, was that a nearby farmer by the name of Tom Krantz was filming their deliberate dumping shenanigans. His video can be?seen here, on YouTube.
A big international oil company is breaking the law because nobody’s looking. And taking economic advantage of the law by cheating.
I was able to speak with Clay Rodgers on the phone, who is the Regional Water Quality Control Board Assistant Executive Officer who viewed the video from Mr. Frantz, and the water quality control board was able to use it as ?as evidence, and has recently issued an investigative enforcement order to Vintage Production California?and penalized the company $60,000, which is the highest fine possible in this case. Right now the verdict on total damages is pending.?Rodgers?said:
Vintage Production is submitting work plans to us, and they are going in and drilling samples in the affected area. They’ll have their consultants, and their scientists with oversight from our staff. They have signed that they submit the information true and accurate under penalty of perjury. The penalties get far more significant if they submitted false information to us. At that point it would go to the Attorney General, because that would become a criminal offense if they commit perjury.
This is another strike for the company; back?in late 2011 they were busted?for a clean air act violation that totaled the sum of $34,000. The reason being was neglectful possession of air permits for three of their steam generators in Bakersfield, California.
Some argue that the oil company is coming out of these violations relatively unscathed. Are these $60,000 and $34,000 fines ample retribution for a company that is owned by Occidental Petroleum(aka OXY on the stock market)?that generates money in the billions, and is one of the largest oil companies in the United States? Oxy owns Vintage Production California LLC in a kind of loose manner in the form of a subsidary, which means that Oxy (the parent company) holds the voting power for what Vintage Production California does.
Ironically, I found this?mission statement on pg. 3 by the Executive Chairman Ray R. Irani on Oxy’s website:
Our commitment to environmental stewardship ranges from cost-effectively reducing emissions at our plants and facilities to supporting biodiversity and habitat conservation programs on our properties. We are proud to have received recognition from government agencies and the Wildlife Habitat Council for our environmental performance.
Will Vintage Production California and Occidental Production be responsible for more than what is “pennies” to them because it’s cheaper to break the law than to uphold it? Will the state of California and Congress decide to create more severe fines that are in the billions of dollars for companies like Vintage Production California and Oxy for compromising the already set proper disposal methods of chemical byproduct and jeopardize the health of our mothers, fathers, grandparents, and most importantly, our children for the sake of money, laziness and outdated; or more appropriately “vintage” forms of energy production?
Edited/Published by: SB
