BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Back in February, an oil well spewed hundreds of gallons on a Bakersfield farmer's land, property, and animals causing damage.
Larry Saldana says he has spent the past five months getting officials to hold Sequoia Exploration Incorporated accountable for cleaning up his property after oil sprayed onto it. Now in July, Saldana says he’s still dealing with the cleanup.
“Big puddles of oil along with, oil basically covering the entire 2.5 acres of our farm, covering our trees, our buildings, our greenhouses, and our miniature goats,” said Bakersfield farm owner Larry Saldana.
That was the scene described by Larry Saldana after returning from a month of traveling. In February, oil and gas company Sequoia Exploration sent a worker to remove the rig on an idle oil well and plug it on his property. According to the company, during the work, high winds caused some oils and dirt to lightly cover quote “a number of items on Mr. Saldana's property.”
But months later, Saldana says the cleanup process is still ongoing.
“The oil company, it just keeps pushing things back and saying that they are not going to clean up everything because they don’t need to. They already got the county to approve their partial cleaning that only addresses our company but does not address any of the surrounding farms,” said Saldana.
Sequoia Exploration agent Chris Boyd gave us a statement saying quote “the reasons why Sequoia has not been able to proceed with cleaning up the light oil spray is due to Mr. Saldana's not accepting the clean-up plan approved by Kern County Public Health Department and CalGEM and Mr. Saldana's documented unreasonable requirements or being unresponsive in allowing Sequoia's contractors on the site at mutually approved times to begin the cleanup activity.”
“Larry let me know about the spill. I came and confirmed the leak with an infrared camera and within 12 hours we had two regulators down here that issued two notices of violation,” said Oil and Gas Director for the Central California Environmental Justice Network.
Cesar Aguirre, Oil and Gas Director for the Central California Environmental Justice Network was contacted by Saldana to inspect the oil well for gas leaks, and Aguirre says he found methane and toxic airborne compounds leaking. Aguirre also says he notified the San Joaquin Air District. According to the San Joaquin Air District, they performed an investigation on the same day, confirmed a violation of state requirements, and took enforcement action against Sequoia Exploration.
Sequoia goes on to say that they “continues to contact Mr. Saldana by text and email to coordinate this work, as we have committed to do and Sequoia will very soon complete the well abandonment.”
While the disagreement continues, Saldana says it is a frustrating situation.
“I was heartbroken. We put a lot of time in this farm, and this is the food that my entire family eats,” said Saldana.
Saldana says Sequoia Exploration has offered him $2000 for the damages from the oil, but instead plans to take legal action.
