NO to oil wastewater on California crops!
- by: Jen Johnson
- recipient: Governor Jerry Brown
Did you know that the California Water Board is allowing farmers to water our crops with oil drilling wastewater, which is filled with dangerous chemicals?
Add your name to this petition to demand that Governor Jerry Brown stop allowing wastewater to be used on our crops, and protect us from these questionable chemicals.
It is horrifying that farmers are using oil drilling wastewater (leftover water from oil and gas wells). This water is laced not only with petroleum, but with dozens of other chemicals that the oil industry refuses to disclose, and which haven't been determined to be safe for human consumption.
The USDA bans petroleum-derived fertilizers in organic standards, but the same rules don't apply to the water that goes on the crops. The USDA hasn't even established what levels of these chemicals in wastewater are safe for human consumption, but the state is allowing our food to be doused with it.
And this isn't a small problem. In increasingly drought-stricken areas like California, oil companies last year supplied half the water that went to the 45,000 acres of farmland in Kern County's Cawelo Water District, where certified organic grapes and raisins are grown.
Governor Jerry Brown can put an end to this practice right now by directing the State Water Board to stop the use of chemical-laden wastewater on our crops.
Sign this petition to ask Governor Jerry Brown to take immediate action and protect our health.
Meanwhile, there has been no comprehensive independent testing conducted to ensure that our food and health are protected from the hundreds chemicals used in oil operations, some of which have been shown to be carcinogenic and toxic.
Nor have any actions been taken to protect the farmworkers who are potentially exposed to these toxins on a daily basis.
Because of this, we urge you to ensure that our food is safe to eat by directing the State Water Board to prohibit the use of oil wastewater for crop irrigation in California.
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