FrackingCalifornia Democratic lawmakers want a go-slow approach to fracking

California may be on the verge of an oil rush. It is estimated that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, at the Monterey Shale formation may tap reserves of fifteen billion barrels of oil.

If true, getting and processing the oil could create many jobs and reduce even more the U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

Governor Jerry Brown (D) sayis“the potential is extraordinary.”

Fox News reports that Democratic lawmakers do not see it that way, and have proposed numerous anti-fracking bills aiming to control the use of the controversial technology. Ten bills have been tabled so far, and more are on the way.

One bill seeks would require that fracking be used to extract  oil  from rock layers only if nit  cannot be reached by conventional methods. Another bill would require a full disclosure of what chemicals are used in fracking’s high pressure systems, how they are removed, and where they are stored.

State Senator Fran Pavley (D has taken it one step further by  pushing for a moratorium on fracking in the state until more studies can determine the risks involved, especially to groundwater.

“With hydraulic fracturing, hundreds of gallons of water, laced with chemicals, sand … can go horizontally underground. … We don’t know enough,” Pavely told Fox News.

Supporters of fracking say that the bills are premature, and are hurting what could be a potential bonanza for the state and the country.

“Why would you want to curtail energy production, with a technology that has proved to be safe, and (deny) the folks in the regions of the state where those benefits are going to accrue? That just doesn’t make any sense,” Tupper Hull, who is with the Western States Petroleum Association said.

Fracking has been used in California for decades. There have been problems with the technology in other states, but fracking has a good safety record in the state. Still, Democratic lawmakers and environmentalists in the Golden State want more information on the science of fracking, and promote the idea of establishing an oversightbody before they let oil companies expand the use of the technology.

“Companies aren’t required to report fracking to anyone — not the state or the federal government,” said Patrick Sullivan, with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Some have made their fracking public, but they certainly don’t have to.”

State regulators are currently creating their own rules and regulations for fracking, and say once these rules are approved, anti-fracking bills will be unnecessary. Democrats in the State Senate do not believe the regulations   to keep what could become the biggest oil boom in state history safe.