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California is planning to ban oil wells near schools, homes, hospitals and nursing homes.
Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot told reporters yesterday the new regulations include retrofits of existing wells. They'll have to be placed at least 32,000 feet away from "sensitive" buildings. Crowfoot expects some wells to be shut down because the retrofits will be too expensive. Governor Gavin Newsom called it a milestone rule but said more needs to be done to keep people and the environment safe.
“This is about public health, public safety, clean air, clean water — this is about our kids and our grandkids and our future,” Newsom said in Wilmington, a Los Angeles neighborhood with the city’s highest concentration of wells. “A greener, cleaner, brighter, more resilient future is in our grasp and this is a commitment to advance that cause.”