Bay Area county bans nonexistent fracking

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to ban the controversial oil and gas extraction technique, which has touched off fierce political fights across the state and country.

[...] yet, the company that operates Alameda County’s only active oil field, just east of Livermore, does not use fracking, according to the company and a website that tracks fracked wells nationwide.

[...] county residents concerned that hydraulic fracturing could taint groundwater pushed for a ban anyway.

With Gov. Jerry Brown opposed to a statewide moratorium or ban, environmentalists have focused their efforts on individual counties, winning bans in five so far.

The vast majority of hydraulic fracturing in California, however, takes place in Kern County, the center of the state’s oil industry.

Fracking employs a pressurized mix of water, sand and chemicals to crack underground rocks, allowing oil or natural gas to flow to the surface.

The ban adopted by the Board of Supervisors blocks the use of acid for stimulating oil production but allows it for maintenance.

“We can work with this ordinance,” said Amy Roth, E&B’s director of public and government affairs.