(Williams) Floor: 28-33-19
California’s oil and gas wells produce over 130 billion annual gallons of wastewater laced with toxic chemicals. With inadequate oversight and exemption from federal hazardous waste requirements, such wastewater has been found to have cancer causing benzene levels up to 1,500 times the legal limit for drinking water. A 2014 study found methane in 82% of groundwater wells in close proximity to a gas well. AB356 would have helped protect underground sources of drinking water from oil and gas wastewater disposal and enhanced oil recovery treatment by requiring monitoring near injection wells.