Demanding Accountability For Kern County Oil & Gas Drilling Projects

Local residents, who already breathe some of the dirtiest air in the country, will have little to no recourse to challenge future oil and gas extraction activities, including fracking and other oil drilling projects taking place in close proximity to their homes, schools and public spaces.

Regional Office / Program

Case Overview

Environmental and public health groups are urging Kern County to reject a severely flawed Draft Environmental Impact Report related to proposed revisions of the county’s oil and gas zoning ordinance.

California is the nation’s third largest oil-producing state, and more than 80 percent of oil produced in the state comes from Kern County. The proposed ordinance revisions, as requested by the oil industry, purport to “streamline” oil and gas permitting and environmental review in Kern County by shielding oil and gas projects from environmental review and public notice requirements for a minimum of 25 years.

This means that local residents, who already breathe some of the dirtiest air in the country, will have little to no recourse to challenge future oil and gas extraction activities, including fracking and other oil drilling projects taking place in close proximity to their homes, schools and public spaces.

A farmer watches oil wells that have sprouted near almond orchards in Shafter, Kern County, California.
A farmer watches oil wells that have sprouted near almond orchards in Shafter, Kern County, California. (Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)

Case Updates

June 8, 2022 Press Release: Victory

Court Ruling Deems Kern County’s Oil and Gas Review Violated the Law

For the second time, Kern County’s fast-track permitting ordinance fails under scrutiny

December 17, 2015 Document

Kern County petition

Lawsuit to safeguard Kern communities from flawed oil & gas drilling amendment

Oil drilling operations in Kern County, Calif.
December 9, 2015 Article

One California County’s Fracked Idea

Kern County is the nation’s largest oil-producing county, and to keep on top it’s not going to let a little thing like public review of new oil and gas permits get in its way.