Fracking Archives - ChicoSol News

Measure E Supporters Canvassed to Ban Fracking in Butte

photo by Karen Laslo

Melinda Vasquez takes a break from canvassing

Editor’s Note: Measure E to ban hydraulic fracturing in Butte County had passed with 71.5 percent of the vote, according to election results on June 8. This story was written during spring semester at Chico State.

By Maria Miyashiro

Melinda Vasquez knocks on a door at the sea-green apartment complex. She is greeted by a woman, who notifies her Chihuahua she’s “going to spank your butt” if the dog doesn’t stop barking. The dog quiets down.

Vasquez begins her inquiry: Whether her neighbor is familiar with the Yes-on-Measure-E campaign to ban fracking, a question she’s asked dozens of times at doors in the Memorial Neighborhood of Chico just in the last hour. read more

County Goof Shaped Fracking Debate

SnellingsCalarco_251_276 — photo by Leslie Layton

by Leslie Layton

One of the key arguments made during the local fracking debate was based, at least in part, on an erroneous statement by county officials, ChicoSol has learned.

As a draft ordinance to prevent fracking was debated at public meetings early this year and last year, opponents often argued that a Butte County ban would serve a symbolic rather than regulatory role. The Butte County Department of Development Services (DDS) provided a key piece of evidence for that argument: No one, they said, had applied for a conditional use permit to drill a new gas well in more than 25 years. read more

How the Fight to Ban Fracking Turned Partisan

by Leslie Layton

It cost the oil-and-gas industry some pocket change (about $100 grand) to accomplish its mission in Butte County. If I had a leaked memo, the mission might have been described this way: Stop cold the county’s ordinance to ban fracking, reframe their debate.

On Feb. 10, the Board of Supervisors rejected a 13-page ordinance to ban fracking written by Butte County attorneys who had conducted research over a period of months. Chair Doug Teeter and supervisors Steve Lambert and Bill Connelly said they had changed their position on the issue — but not because of “threats” as had been suggested. read more

County Commission Hesitant to Endorse Fracking Ban

by Leslie Layton

Butte County planning commissioners debated last week an ordinance to ban fracking, finally tabling a measure they said might be purely symbolic.

And if an ordinance that would ban fracking in Butte County is a symbolic gesture — as some argue — the importance of the symbolism to the state’s oil-and-gas industry was clear at the Oct. 23 meeting. The Commission faced upfront industry lobbying from statewide groups opposed to a local ban.

After hearing testimony from more than 30 people, the Commission voted 4-0 to table the matter until its Dec. 11 meeting. (Commissioner Harrel Wilson was absent.) Perhaps more telling, the commissioners also voted 4-0 to pare down the draft ordinance by about 95 percent in order to consider an abbreviated version that would only ban the disposal of fracking by-products in Butte County. read more

Strategists Work for The Industry, Oppose Fracking Ban

by Leslie Layton

When Robin Cook addressed Butte County supervisors to ask for a 30-day study on a ballot initiative that would ban fracking, she talked convincingly about her concern for her father’s —and the county’s— finances.

“My family owns property that has a capped well,” she told supervisors at their July 29 meeting. “From what we can understand … this would be a takings of our property. The debate today is about the … petition coming before you and whether or not that language is bankruptcy language for this county. Nobody wants to see this county be lost in a big old mess of lawsuits.” read more

Anti-Fracking Ballot Initiative Faces Two-Year Delay

by Leslie Layton

The grass-roots campaign to ban fracking in Butte County via ballot initiative came to a crashing halt with a July 29 vote by the Board of Supervisors. The supervisors voted, 4-1, in favor of a 30-day study of the initiative rather than to place it on the Nov. 4 ballot.

The board also said it would proceed with work on an ordinance county attorneys are writing that would also ban fracking and that would likely include more detail and definition of terms. That’s been underway since the board’s April 8 meeting, when supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of a county-wide fracking ban. read more

What is ChicoSol?

ChicoSol is an independent, reader-supported online magazine that publishes the first week of each month. ChicoSol runs on donations and occasional fellowships as it works to provide cross-cultural feature writing and bold investigative reporting.

Our stories usually reflect national issues but focus on the Chico area of the Northern Sacramento Valley. We’re journalists who believe that fact-based reporting sustains healthy, participatory democracy.

We post comments from readers on stories when commenters identify themselves by name. To learn more read here.

Officer-involved fatal shootings in Butte County, 2017-21, and agency involved

March 17, 2017 Desmond Phillips, 25 (Chico PD)

July 23, 2017 Tyler Rushing, 34 (Chico PD)

Aug. 17, 2017 Mark Jensen, 56 (Butte County Sheriff's Office)

April 7, 2018 Larry Siordia, 33 (Butte County Sheriff's Office)

April 26, 2018 Myra Micalizio, 56 (Butte County Sheriff's Office)

Nov. 15, 2018 GD Hendrix, 48 (Butte County Sheriff's Office)

Jan. 28, 2019 Richard Moulton, 52 (Butte County Sheriff's Office)

Oct. 14, 2020 Stephen Vest, 30 (Chico PD)

Were callers to dispatch warning that Stephen Vest was in trouble?

The Chico Police Department media log suggests Stephen Vest was likely on East 20th Street as of 6 p.m. — and possibly much earlier.

9:09 a.m.: Caller says a man is on East 20^th Street jumping in front of cars. He’s described as a thin white man 5-feet-9-inches tall wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and backpack. Police arrive almost 26 minutes later and report him “gone on arrival.”

5:59 p.m.: A man on East 20th Street behind Petco is “trying to cross and then running in the road.” Log states: “Appears very confused or 11550” referring to the under-the-influence Health & Safety code section. Police arrive quickly and report him “gone on arrival.”

Sometime around 7 p.m., Vest was seen at that location in a hooded sweatshirt by an acquaintance who worried that he might get hit, says Lisa Currier. Sometime around 7:30 p.m., Vest had an encounter with a security guard in the area of Community Park, says Butte County DA Mike Ramsey.

ChicoSol wins top 2020 honors

For the second consecutive year, ChicoSol was recognized for outstanding work by judges for the California News Publishers Association (CNPA.)

ChicoSol won awards in four categories in the 2020 Journalism Awards contest run by CNPA. Our stories were recognized in the investigative reporting, health reporting, election coverage, and public service journalism categories for digital publications.

Dave Waddell’s story, “Conflict of interest in Stephen Vest killing probe?” placed fifth in investigative reporting.

Leslie Layton’s reporting that began with the story, “Butte County Latinos hit hardest by the pandemic” placed third in two separate categories — coverage of the pandemic (health reporting) and public service journalism.

“The public service effect of Ms. Layton’s July article is impossible to miss in the subsequent two entries, and I applaud ChicoSol on its efforts to highlight a disparity and follow that reporting through…”, wrote a CNPA judge. “This is classic and clean public service journalism.”

Finally, Layton’s story, “An election ends Gridley’s ‘political slumber‘” placed fifth in the category for local coverage of the 2020 election.

Thank you readers and supporters!