Price Canyon oil field proposes expanding underground steam injection

State water and oil officials have filed a request with the federal Environmental Protection Agency to substantially increase the area beneath the Price Canyon oil field into which steam and wastewater can be injected, a move that could one day expand the oil field itself.

The request, called an aquifer exemption proposal, would apply to the Dollie Sands of the Pismo Formation, which lies beneath the Price Canyon oil field near the intersection of Ormonde Road and Price Canyon Road. The oil field is also called the Arroyo Grande oil field.

Neighbors of the oil field and environmental groups are lining up to oppose the application. They say the expansion endangers domestic water wells in the area, and they plan to write letters to the EPA outlining their concerns.

“Residents surrounding the Arroyo Grande aquifer are still for protecting the water and requesting the exemption be denied,” said Natalie Beller, who lives near the oil field. The area around the oil field is largely undeveloped with scattered rural residences.

The proposal, originally made in August, would triple the allowable injection area to approximately one and a half square miles. Injector wells serve two purposes in the oil field — to inject steam to thin the oil and make it easier to pump and to dispose of wastewater.

The proposal to expand the injection area comes from oil field owner Freeport McMoRan of Phoenix and the state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources. State water officials say the expanded injection area meets the requirements of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act because the Dollie Sands area is geologically separate from the surrounding areas and does not serve as a drinking water source.

The exemption expansion first goes to the EPA’s regional office in San Francisco, which has until March 24 to respond. The request could be referred to the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The expansion of the injection area would accommodate several significant expansions planned at the oil field. The oil field covers 1,480 acres.

First, the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission recently approved a request to drill an additional 31 wells at the field that were originally approved in 2005. That decision has been appealed to the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors.

The oil company has also applied for permits to drill an additional 450 wells as part of a new phase of production at the oil field. That application is on hold until the aquifer expansion issue is decided. Currently, 165 wells are producing oil and 40 injector wells are also in use. The field resembles a typical oil field except the wells are equipped with steam injection systems. The facility also has a water treatment plant that treats some of its wastewater before releasing it into Pismo Creek.

The expansion of the injection area will not increase the overall size of the field.

The field is located halfway between Pismo Beach and San Luis Obispo, where it has been operating for more than 100 years and currently produces about 1,000 barrels of oil a day. If the planned 450 new wells are added, production would rise to 10,000 barrels a day. That level of production would require 64 truck trips per day, up from the current seven truck trips per day, which would be scheduled for nonpeak traffic hours.

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 7:34 PM with the headline "Price Canyon oil field proposes expanding underground steam injection."