Introduction and Objective

    From as early as 1854, fossil fuels have been collected from Ventura County, California. The earliest extractions came from collecting crude oil, called asphaltum, from natural “seeps and excavations” in the county, namely from Sulphur Mountain.1 Within a decade, oil companies began digging oil tunnels and drilling small wells around Ventura for the purpose of crude oil extraction. During this time, people began extracting natural gas from water wells, and this product’s value soon became known for its heating and lighting applications in residential homes and commercial buildings.

    By 1910, natural gas pipelines were laid down in some California towns, and its production rose quickly in the coming decades as natural gas capturing techniques from conventional oil wells improved. The early strategies of production were primarily focused on extracting natural gas as a byproduct of conventional well drilling; this is called “associated gas.”1 However, the extraction of “non-associated gas,” gas without oil, rose quickly with the invention of hydraulic fracturing, (fracking) by Stanolind Oil in 1949.2 Natural gas exploration proliferated across California after the invention of this extraction technique.

    The early applications of fracking increased the energy production of previously drilled wells by 75%, on average.2 Although a similar combination of toxic fluids and proppants were pumped into the early wells, as they are now, the perceived risks to groundwater were miniscule due to the fact that the additives were less toxic, the wells were much more shallow, and the public was much less informed. Currently, the fracking process uses up to 8 million gallons of water per well (up from the previous 70,000 gallons) while reaching between 5,000 to 8,000 feet below the ground. Chemicals include “benzene, gelling agents, crosslinkers, friction reducers, corrosion inhibitors, scale inhibitors, biocides and, in some cases, diesel fuel.”3
Diagram of modern hydraulic fracturing: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/02/27/us/fracking.html

    A few factors combined in the last few decades that lead to an explosion of domestic natural gas extraction. First, new technology in the fracking process such as horizontal drilling and the use of new additives opened up “unconventional” reserves of natural gas hidden in shale deposits, nearly doubling U.S.’s proven natural gas reserves.4 Second, the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 brought the U.S.’s dependence on Middle Eastern fossil fuel into the spotlight, which subsequently lead to policy decisions to ramp up domestic energy production. Third, natural gas was marketed as a form of “clean energy,” which lead to domestic support for its extraction. And fourth, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, under the Bush administration, specifically exempted hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water act, effectively relinquishing the EPA’s ability to regulate the industry.5President Obama’s commitment to energy independence has continued these trends and strengthened the natural gas industry.

    The controversy over fracking revolves around its unbelievably high consumption (and subsequent pollution) of local groundwater, but the Energy Policy Act of 2005’s exemption allows for no federal oversight or any legal basis for individuals to challenge oil companies that damage this vital local resource. Furthermore, the only “law that would require all oil and gas companies to disclose where they are fracking and what chemicals are being forced into the ground during the process,”6 yet to be pushed through state Congress. Currently, citizens of Ventura County are unaware of the amount of natural gas being exploited by hydraulic fracturing in their area, and the effects this process could potentially have on their local groundwater.

    In the last couple of years, oil companies such as Vintage Oil Production California (a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation) have discovered sizeable deposits of natural gas in Ventura county, namely the Sespe oil field just north of Fillmore, which are now exploitable with improved fracking technology. It is important for locals of Ventura County to realize that this extraction is taking place, and to realize the existential threat the process of hydraulic fracturing poses to their local drinking and agricultural water. This study, using Landsat 5 satellite imagery and public California energy extraction data observes land degradation due to hydraulic fracturing between years 1997, 2009, and 2011, and the proximity of currently active fracking wells to local residences and resources. 

Objective:

   The purpose of our remote sensing analysis is to spatially and statistically measure the extent of the geophysical implications associated with hydraulic fracturing in Ventura County.This study analyzes hydraulically fractured regions in Ventura County, specifically the Ojai/Rincon Valley and northern FIllmore, using NDVI and thermal imagery from the Landsat 5 satellite in 1997, 2009 and 2011.  It’s purpose is to  detect changes in the vegetation of these regions due to the adverse effects of the fracking process and its infrastructure. This involves the construction of new roads for equipment transportation, chemical runoff that alters surface terrain, and the contamination of groundwater.  We are also expecting to find changes in the thermal properties of these regions, which might strike a correlation among these effects.  The results we generate will provide environmentalists, local governments officials, and local citizens with awareness and knowledge about the extent of the drilling in their backyards.

Methods

   Landsat 5 imagery was used to analyze the Ventura County study area in August of 1997, 2009, and 2011. The year 1997 was used as a “baseline” for vegetation in this study, as it is primarily concerned with recent drilling since 2011. Imagery from August were used to avoid cloud contamination in the imagery and to provide a standard for summer vegetation. Images from 2009 were used to provide a visualization of vegetation change before the recent increase in drilling.

   Using the USGS Global Visualization Viewer (GLOVIS), LandSat 5 imagery of Ventura County (path 41, row 36) was downloaded. Imagery was then modified and analyzed using ENVI remote sensing software to create Normalized Difference Vegetation Indices (NDVI), thermal imagery, and change detections.

   The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is a graphical indication of vegetation density from -1 (water) to 1 (temperate and tropical rainforests). This NDVI was made using the visible red (band 3, .63-.69 µm) and near infrared (band 4, .76-.90 µm) bands on the Landsat 5’s Thematic Mapper (TM) sensor. A value of zero represents a neutral area consisting of rock, sand or snow.  This NDVI is mapped out on a graduated color scale between a series of hues representing the index.  The study’s analysis uses a blue to white NDVI scale, where negative values are represented by darker hues and therefore less vegetation, while light hues represent high indices and high vegetation.

   Thermal images were gathered by analyzing TM’s band 6. These images were modified using ENVI in an orange to white gradient, with white representing highest temperatures. Change detections were done on both the NDVIs and thermal imagery to show changes in vegetation and temperature correlated with drilling. Analysis in ArcGIS was also done to illustrate the geographic locations of each hydraulically fractured well in the study area. Data was provided by the California Department of Conservation. This analysis was exported into raster form and placed back into ENVI.

Discussion

   The benefits of hydraulic fracturing are significant: local and regional economic benefits of increased employment and tax revenue, less expenditure on international oil, less hostility abroad by shifting exploitation of resources from foreign countries to the United States, and less post-extraction pollution as the consumption of natural gas is regarded as the most efficient, and least polluting fossil fuel.⁷  Judging by just these benefits, it makes perfect sense to increase domestic extraction of natural gas through hydraulic fracturing.  However, it is clear that the burden it places on the environment and its resources is far too great to ignore.

    This report finds a correlation between hydraulic fracturing and vegetation losses, as well as an increase in temperature near the well sites. However, these findings are not revolutionary, as building fossil fuel infrastructure always involves replacing vegetation with roads and wells. Furthermore, environmental degradation has been occurring in this area for well over a century due to fossil fuel extraction. Many of these foothills have been previously carved out by conventional drilling and its infrastructure, so, in many places, there was little vegetation for new drilling to affect.

    The real environmental issue surrounding hydraulic fracturing is not loss of local vegetation, but the effects this process has on local groundwater, which is tough for remote sensing analysis to tackle on its own. Combining the findings of this report with groundwater analysis through geographic information systems (GIS) software will strengthen its results.

A supporting report on this issue (Pulice 2012) can be found here.

    The combination of these two reports paints a vivid picture of the local costs in vegetation loss and groundwater contamination due to hydraulic fracturing in the hills of Ventura County. Before allowing further extraction to take place, local governments and their residents must consider these costs alongside gas extraction’s largely economic benefits. If the economic benefits outweigh the environmental costs, hydraulic fracturing may find a home in Ventura County. However, if the costs outweigh the benefits, the public must make a statement that they value their natural natural resources over the possible economic benefits of drilling.

    Rather than trying to paint an ugly picture of the oil industry and the hydraulic fracturing process, this report’s purpose is to clearly lay out the costs of fracking in terms of vegetation losses. Combined with the 2012 Pulice report on fracking’s groundwater implications, residents and government officials in Ventura County will have the resources to make educated decisions on the future of their gas industry. Future watershed analysis and surface and groundwater testing may hold the key to making the correct decisions on this issue. If this report accomplishes anything, it should be used as a tool for Ventura County’s locals to inform themselves on this complex, and largely opaque issue.

Footnotes

1. State of California Department of Conservation, Oil, Gas & Geothermal. (2005). Oil and gas production History in California. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.
ftp://ftp.consrv.ca.gov/pub/oil/history/History_of_Calif.pdf

2. Montgomery, Carl, and Michael Smith. "Hydraulic Fracturing: History of an Enduring Technology." Society of Petroleum Engineers. Society of Petroleum Engineers, 10 2010. Web. 6 Dec 2012. 
http://www.spe.org/jpt/print/archives/2010/12/10Hydraulic.pdf

3. "A Brief History of Hydraulic Fracturing." Environmental Engineering and Contracting, inc., Environmental Engineering and Contracting, inc., Web. 6 Dec 2012.
http://www.eecworld.com/services/258-a-brief-history-of-hydraulic-fracturing

4. Beckwith, Robin. "Hydraulic Fracturing: The Fuss, the Facts, the Future." Society of Petroleum Engineers. Society of Petroleum Engineers, 10 2012. Web. 6 Dec 2012. 
http://www.spe.org/jpt/print/archives/2010/12/10Hydraulic.pdf

5. United States. Environmental Protection Agency. Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing Under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. 
http://water.epa.gov/type/groundwater/uic/class2/hydraulicfracturing/wells_hydroreg.cfm

6. Barlow, Zeke. "Oil fracking in state and county raises questions." Ventura County Star 16 Jan 2012, Online. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.  
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/jan/16/oil-fracking-in-state-and-county-raises/

7. “Natural Gas and the Environment” Natural Gas Supply Association, 2011. Web. 11 Dec 2012. http://www.naturalgas.org/environment/naturalgas.asp#greenhouse/