Second in a series
Re “Fracking Not One of the Top 3 or 4 Oil Field Issues”
[img]1762|left|Mr. Kuechle||no_popup[/img]In an era when political beliefs are wrong or right with no gray shadings, John Kuechle, a major overseer of the Baldwin Hills Oil Field, is a welcome, hair-blowing breeze.
Unlike colleagues, Mr. Kuechle easily segues into “I don’t know.”
Especially when the topic is fracking. He does not think it is the life-squeezing threat that activists and many residents claim.
Typically, though, with the self-effacing Mr. Kuechle, the door never is permanently ajar until he receives a persuasive answer on the nationally disputed method of drilling.
“Fracking is a complicated enough issue that true believers never will be proven wrong,” he said. “It is one of those subjects that has so many variables the biggest factor in reaching a conclusion is how you start looking at it. True believers’ perspective is that Big Oil has bought off the regulators and is out to… It doesn’t care about anything, and is trying to destroy the field for a buck.
Anticipating a Pile of Trouble
“I sometimes share that feeling,” Mr. Kuechle said with a robust laugh. “I am very concerned about the ultimate cleanup of the oil field. I think when it stops being profitable, (the oil company PXP is) going to walk away, and we will be left with a big mess. That’s a big problem.
“I am concerned about the whole underground injection process, as opposed to fracking, which is something that happens for two or three days when a well is drilled, and then it is over.
“The underground injection stuff, when they are pumping water in, taking stuff out and pumping it back in, that goes on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I am concerned about that causing problems.
“So there are issues I am concerned about. But fracking does not strike me as the most important.
“It could be,” said Mr. Kuechle, “that I am just not smart enough to see it. I have spent a fair amount of time reading about it, and I just don’t see it.
“Nothing has convinced me this issue is as big as the others.”
(To be continued)
