Ranchers Joe and Kathy Spencer in rural southwest San Benito are featured in a new video called “Water Goes, We Go,” created by the nonprofit National Resources Defense Council.
In this five-minute story, the Spencers worry that the company that owns the mineral rights under their land and much of their neighbors’ will consume the area’s already scarce water supply, draining their aquifers and making their property worthless. It is a quick lesson in the ills of what is commonly known as a “split estate,” when landowners do not own their land’s mineral rights. About 75 percent of property owners in this nation do not own their mineral rights, yet few realize it, according to the documentary “Split Estate.”
The Spencers live next to Citadel Oil Corp.’s Indian Wells cyclic steam oil project, which envisions 1,000 wells planted six miles from the Pinnacles National Park. Citadel is starting with 15 “test” wells, and each one takes more than a million gallons of water to “steam.” When the water is removed it is laced with toxins such as benzene (which causes leukemia) and naturally occurring arsenic and mercury. The video has gone national on the Internet in the fight against hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
The Spencers have added their names to the growing list of ranchers and farmers who have officially endorsed Measure J, San Benito’s fight to ban fracking, cyclic steam and acidization. The ballot measure still allows for conventional oil drilling except in areas where people live, like the suburbs.
To watch the video, click here.