Bakersfield oil producers under investigation for allegedly contaminating the city’s water supply

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) – It is now the fourth day since an oil spill contaminated part of Bakersfield’s drinking water supply.

The pollution investigation is focusing on a local oil producer, as 42 companies have been unable to use the city’s tap water since Tuesday afternoon. 17 News has contacted the company allegedly responsible for the oil leak but has not received a response as of Friday evening.

“We stopped using the affected water, put up signs for patients to use the next day, informed all staff, put bags around the sinks so no one accidentally tries to use the water and so on,” said Melissa Gilkes-Smith, chief operations officer of the Heart Vascular and Leg Center.

Residents have been prohibited from drinking and using the water since early Tuesday afternoon, when oil was first discovered in the city’s drinking water system. Cal Water, the company that owns and operates about two-thirds of Bakersfield’s water system, And The person overseeing the cleanup says it appears the oil backflow responsible for the water contamination occurred at a crude oil storage facility located at 5401 Office Park Drive.

This is the address of Griffin Resources LLC, a local oil producer. 17 News was unable to reach Griffin’s owners for comment, but this is not the first time the company has struggled with oil leaks.

According to the California Department of Conservation, Griffin Resources LLC has failed to correct various violations related to proper oil well maintenance and equipment upkeep over the past seven years, which could pose a potential danger to the public and the environment, the department said.

It was only in April of this year that Griffin received a temporary restraining order to remedy the situation, according to the State Department, for the reasons listed below.

1. At least 28 different well leaks where repairs did not meet requirements. For example, tape, staples or Flexseal spray were used instead of a permanent repair.
2. Allows venting of wells into a pipeline that has been out of service since 2019 due to a reportable leak.
3. Failure to pass the mechanical integrity test (checking for leaks in piping and verifying that the well’s mechanical components function in a manner that protects public health and the environment).

Griffin received a second emergency order, also in April, for failing to comply with regulations regarding the placement of tanks near residential areas.

The ministry told 17 News that it, along with its Geological Energy Management Division (responsible for overseeing the oil, natural gas and geothermal industries), had discovered “significant amounts of oil on the ground in several areas, leaking tanks with inadequate secondary protection and numerous fire hazards, such as power lines running through the crude oil-filled ponds on the site.”

Griffin did not comply with any of the orders, the department said.

Griffin also faces an ongoing lawsuit dating back to 2022 that required the company to plug and abandon 25 of its wells in the Fruitvale oil field.

“In general, we test for organics, microbiological compounds, oil and grease,” said Yvonne Kingman, director of corporate communications for the California Water Service Company (Cal Water).

These are the next steps, Kingman noted.

More than 30 Cal Water workers will be on site Friday and will continue flushing water and taking samples.

The first water quality results from these samples are expected at the end of Friday to the beginning of Saturday.

During flushing, Kingman explained, the pipes are intensively flushed with water several times in one direction to remove water that may contain oil or other contaminants.

“We need to have several rounds of acceptable test results before we can lift the alert,” Kingman said.

Kingman said Cal Water cannot even provide an estimate at this time as to when water supplies will be fully restored.

Kingman also provided 17 News with a timeline of the contamination.

On Monday, she said, Cal Water received its first report of air in a customer’s water line.

This, Kingman said, is not unusual and air can get into waterways in a variety of ways. Workers followed standard procedures, flushed the water away and everything was repaired.

On Tuesday morning, crews received another report of air in a customer’s water line. Kingman said they looked deeper for the source and eventually found oil in the water. When asked who was responsible for Griffin, Cal Water said it was likely being handled by other agencies.

“(The company) did not properly connect its equipment to a water faucet on its property … as a result, its actions on Tuesday caused the oil to backflow into the water distribution system, thereby compromising it,” Kingman said of the cause.

She added: “The connection was neither authorized nor permitted. It was not allowed.”

However, the brunt of this alleged company’s actions will be borne by businesses in Bakersfield.

“We’re a business,” Gilkes-Smith said, “so the last three days of revenue is a pretty tough blow. Plus, we’ve had to keep employees at home for the last three days, and all of those employees’ wages have been lost.”

Gilkes-Smith said she hopes “we can get reimbursed either from the company that caused the problem or from the city of Bakersfield… We already have patients trying to schedule an appointment for next week and the week after.”

Gilkes-Smith said she was also responsible for the Premier Surgery Centre on Commerical Way, which had to cancel colonoscopies and endoscopies due to a lack of clean water.

“We do screening for colon cancer and sometimes time is of the essence,” she stressed.

The local restaurant Moo Creamery is also temporarily suspending operations.

An employee told 17 News that reopening could be even more complicated because it is a restaurant. She explained that, to her knowledge, once the water service is restored, every single faucet will have to be inspected by a state-certified plumber.

And the restaurant has plenty of faucets, she said.

You can reach the Cal Water office in Bakersfield at 661-837-7200 for any needs, such as free water bottles.

This is a developing story and we will continue to provide you with updates.

And this time, too, 17 News has not received a response from Griffin despite several attempts to reach her.