Pact with devil? California farmers use oil firms' water

[Oscar]

Pact with devil? California farmers use oil firms' water

[ http://news.yahoo.com/pact-devil-califo ... 41481.html ]

AFP By Veronique Dupont July 3, 2015 9:00 PM

Bakersfield (United States) (AFP) - An efficient solution to a historic drought, or an environmentally risky pact with the devil?

That's the question being raised by critics about Californian farmers who irrigate their crops with waste water supplied by oil companies, in an arrangement slammed as dangerous by environmental campaigners.

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- A legal practice -

The farmers pay about $33 per acre-foot (1,233 cubic meters), compared to up to $1,500 for the same quantity of fresh water, said David Ansolabehere, head of the water distribution cooperative.

The practice is entirely legal: Chevron and rivals including Occidental Petroleum Corporation have a permit to sell the water. They have it tested by a third-party firm and then supply the results to California authorities.

"We're in compliance with all the testing requirements," said Auffant.

"There's a petrochemical content in our... permit and we have always met and been under it."

But environmental campaigners don't see it the same way.

"It's an experiment that the state of California and the oil industry performs without consumer consent," Stano said.

"In Chevron's own report we found benzine and acetone, which are carcinogenics" in the water sold to farmers, she said, claiming that the tests also fail to detect other dangerous chemicals.

"There has been a gentleman's agreement to promote deregulation," she added.

Santo denounced a "lack of state enforcement and oversight (and) blind faith in the industries for a long time."

Scott Smith of the Water Defense lobby group, founded by actor Mark Ruffalo, also criticized the testing methods, which he called "outdated."

"Chevron should be interested in partnering with more than just their complicit customer (Cawelo Water District) to protect health, community, environment and water resources," he said.

Almonds, grapes and other agricultural produce are not evaluated apart from their pesticide content, Ansolabehere admitted.

He noted that Californian authorities have decided to form a working group that could order tests on farm produce, after a Chevron report showed salinity which Ansolabehere admitted "was a bit high."

The group would also verify that chemicals like acetone or benzine "cannot get into the roots, the leaves and the fruit," he added.

Tom Frantz, a former and environmental activist, said the stakes are high.

"People would stop buying anything from Kern County for a while if someone got sick," he said.