"Most of State’s Fracking Waste Left in Unlined Pits, Study Finds"

"More than half of the wastewater from fracked oil wells in California is disposed of in open, unlined pits and could contaminate groundwater, according to a state-mandated study of hydraulic fracturing issued Thursday.

The California Council on Science and Technology study presents a cautious assessment of fracking in the state. And it’s not likely to defuse the political fight over fracking, with both the oil industry and its opponents on Thursday claiming vindication in its findings.

The study authors, many of them from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, stress that they found no cases in California of groundwater contamination due to fracking or stimulating oil wells with acid. Nor did they find confirmed cases in which disposal of oil-field wastewater underground triggered earthquakes, a phenomenon that has caused a surge of tremors in Oklahoma."

David R. Baker reports for the San Francisco Chronicle July 9, 2015.