BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) – Environmental and community groups have sued a California county after the prime oil-drilling region approved a plan to fast-track thousands of new wells.
The Kern County Board of Supervisors on Monday approved a revised ordinance that could lead to approval of more than 40,000 new oil and gas wells over roughly 15 years.
The Sierra Club and other groups asked a court Wednesday to order county leaders to set aside the ordinance.
An attorney for one group calls it “a disaster for public health” in a region that already has some of the nation’s worst pollution.
Supervisors argue that the industry provides good jobs and local production would be more environmentally sound than bringing foreign oil.
