LLNL to host Sacramento public meeting to discuss groundwater monitoring

In support of the State Water Resources Control Board, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will host a public meeting in Sacramento on Dec. 11 to receive public comment on the development of model criteria for groundwater monitoring of oil and gas well stimulation (such as hydraulic fracturing) as it relates to Senate Bill 4 (SB4).

SB4, which became law in 2013, requires the State Water Board to seek and consider expert advice and public stakeholder input in developing these criteria. Lawrence Livermore has been designated the expert to assist in this effort. The purpose of this meeting is to gather stakeholder and public perspectives, ideas and concerns regarding the potential effects of oil and gas-related activities on groundwater quality.

Joining the Lab’s Brad Esser will be staff from the State Water Board; the California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources; the U.S. Geological Survey; and stakeholders from the oil and gas industry, environment and environmental justice community and local government and agriculture.

This is the third of three public meetings, and the first to be hosted by LLNL. At this meeting, Esser will announce the technical advisers who will assist in developing recommendations. Advisers include staff from Lawrence Livermore and Lawrence Berkeley national laboratories and professors from Stanford University and California State University, Bakersfield.

WHEN: Dec. 11; 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Sign-in will begin at 8:30 a.m., and presentations will start at 9 a.m.

WHERE: Cal/EPA Building, Klamath Room, 1001 I St., Sacramento

Further information on the meeting can be found on the State Water Board website.