The ‘F’ Word: Unregulated Fracking at Oil Wells Raising Concerns

The ‘F’ Word: Unregulated Fracking at Oil Wells Raising Concerns by Jennifer London, Dina Demetrius, Lata Pandya, Alberto Arce, March 23, 2012, kcet.org
The industry would like to keep facts about the process buried, but it’s got residents scared. In a “SoCal Connected” special report, correspondent Jennifer London unearths whether fracking is going on in Southern California and why it’s become such a dirty word…. In 2004, the owner of the Inglewood Oil Field, Plains Exploration & Production, or PXP, began ramping up operations – and that’s when residents here say their trouble began…. They claim the ground under their homes is shifting, and they blame PXP…. The house has been – it’s over 20 years old. When we moved in here, I mean, this was a pristine house, but all of the sudden now you have a house that’s falling apart. So the house was actually not just cracking; the house was splitting…. When they increased production over there, the home started moving more, and it’s not just here but throughout the neighborhood. So there seems to be a definite correlation of increased production, increased damage. … The oil company, in this case PXP, they are not accepting liability. They are not acknowledging any responsibility for it, so basically the ball is in your court…. And while they say the pumped-up oil production has been trouble enough, now a new worry is surfacing, a controversial drilling method called hydraulic fracturing – or fracking….