The Obama administration’s offshore regulators ruled Friday that fracking has no significant environmental effect off the California coastline.
The finding could open up debate to expand drilling off the coast using the drilling techniques that many environmental groups want to see banned across the nation.
The finding was made Friday by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
“The comprehensive analysis shows that these practices, conducted according to permit requirements, have minimal impact,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, director of the ocean energy bureau.
The regulators analyzed fracking and other forms of oil and gas production used in offshore drilling in the Golden State over a 30-year period.
The conclusion was that fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, used to produce oil in shale rock on land, would have no “significant” impact if used offshore.
“Potential adverse effects of the proposed action to the environment are not significant,” the agencies said in a Finding of No Significant Impact.
“Overall, most resources will not be impacted or impacts will be negligible,” the finding adds. “In some cases where impacts are somewhat more pronounced, such as with discharge of produced water, the impacts are minor, short-term and localized.”
The review was performed in line with a court settlement with environmental groups, who said Friday they weren’t pleased with the results.
