Third in a series
Re “Maybe, Says Kuechle, I Am Just Not Smart Enough to See It”
[img]1762|right|Mr. John Kuechle||no_popup[/img]While he straddles between the monumental verdicts of whether he, a key leader in the lay community, will oppose or endorse fracking, John Kuechle says that taking a stab at which way Sacramento will bend is a major unknowable stumper.
As chair of the Community Advisory Panel that oversees drilling activities by PXP in the Baldwin Hills Oil Field, his position from the first whimper of anti-fracking protests has been pure neutrality, agnosticism.
Guessing the final result in Sacramento after enduring wildly aggressive pressure from both sides, defies even ouija boards.
“I was shocked last year when the Legislature couldn’t even pass a bill requiring (drilling companies) to disclose the chemicals they were putting into the ground,” Mr. Kuechle said. “That seemed like an easy step.
“Some of the things being asked for, like prior notification, I can understand that might be very expensive.
“But putting the same ingredient list on the frack package they stick into the ground, that is near our water supply – that Coca-Cola has to put on every can of soft drinks they sell – doesn’t seem to me like an overreach.
“Yet they could not even pass that.”
Why?
“I have no idea,” Mr. Kuechle said.
“Obviously, there was a lot of pressure from somebody. I don’t think the pressure was from PXP and people like that.
“I really don’t think they care.
“I think the pressure was from Halliburton and people that sell the fracking chemical package. “
Is it reasonable to assume the present state of uncertainty will be prolonged, with neither side being mollified?
“It’s clear the people who are concerned won’t be mollified,” said Mr. Kuechle. “It’s probably clear that the oil companies and Halliburton won’t be satisfied if anything happens.
“I still have considerable hope the Division of Oil and Gas will come up with a set of regulations that will move the ball significantly in the right direction.”
