Fracking is not only unsafe for California but it can prove to be costly to communities and incredibly dangerous to the environment.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 4 into law Sep. 22. The bill permits oil companies to start fracking in the Golden State and will go into effect Jan. 1. 

“(SB 4) establishes strong environmental protections and transparency requirements,” Brown said in a statement.

Fracking is shorthand for hydraulic fracturing, which is the method of using pressurized sand, water and chemicals to release natural gases from underground rock formations. The procedure seems harmless enough but it can also have terrible effects on the communities it’s performed in. 

In May, the state of Pennsylvania fined Chesapeake Energy $1 million because its fracking operations contaminated the water supply of 16 families in Bradford County. This is one of the few instances when a fracking company was held accountable for its actions.

In February, the Obama administration shut down and buried a scientific report concluding fracking operations performed by Range Resources in Weatherford, Texas contaminated the city’s groundwater. Weatherford resident Steve Lipsky reported to the Associated Press the water from his garden hose contains so much methane it can be ignited.

Brown signed SB 4 into law, but was nevertheless opposed by the oil industry for the regulations it put in place. Such regulations include a requirement for oil companies to get permits before fracking. The bill would also require these companies to notify neighbors, publicly disclose what chemicals they use in their procedures and for independent monitoring of air and groundwater quality.

Director of the California Sierra Club Kathryn Phillips was hoping Brown would veto the bill.  California Sierra Club is among the slew of California environmental groups that bailed on the bill after it passed through the state Senate.

“This bill does not provide the kind of protection or approach to fracking that we need,” Phillips said.

Other states such as New York have instituted moratoriums on fracking so that further study can be done on its effects on communities.

“It will only provide political cover to the industry and its allies, who will claim that fracking is safely regulated,” said Zack Malitz, campaign manager at Credo Action, a California progressive group that opposed the bill.

When it comes to energy companies harvesting natural resources from the environment, there’s always one thing absent – accountability.

If Californians are going to allow oil companies to frack in the Monterey Shale deposit, companies should be held accountable for every aquifer contaminated and community polluted.

If fracking operations go awry, there should be financial restitution for the state and California’s residents living near fracking operations and such guarantees should be made explicitly in writing.

Fracking is still incredibly contested across America on whether it is a safe practice or not. If the country must frack, it better do it with as much environmental protection as can be managed. Because the environmental dangers of fracking are still highly contested, oil companies in California should be made to frack at their own risk, and more importantly, their own dime.