The governor asked state regulators to study his own land for it’s oil and gas potential, the AP reported. Brown’s office disagreed with many of the details.
Gov. Jerry Brown appears at a news conference on Sept. 9 in Sacramento.
Rich Pedroncelli / AP
The Associated Press report — which was based on documents obtained via public records requests — described a 51-page document that was allegedly produced over two days by oil and gas regulators. Regulators also created a map labeled "Oil and Gas Potential in West Colusa County," and JB_Ranch" — both references to Brown's 2,700 acre ranch.
The documents were created after Brown asked state officials to examine the land's "potential for future oil and gas activity," the AP reported. The findings revealed there was little potential for drilling or mining at Brown's ranch.
Both Brown's office and state regulators have said the work was legal, but experts interviewed by the AP characterized it as both unusual and potentially troubling.
"Anyone calling in for help is not going to get that," Roland Bain, a petroleum geologist, said of the documents produced for Brown. "The division of oil and gas has never been in a position to give you detailed geological mapping."
Other experts agreed, saying that state officials typically do not provide private citizens with the kind of help Brown got. And Jessica Levinson — a governance expert at Loyola Law School — questioned the ethics of Brown's request, telling the AP that "if no other private individual is able to avail himself of this opportunity, and it's clearly just for personal gain instead of public benefit, then it's clearly problematic."
A map produced by government regulators who assessed Brown's land for its oil and gas potential.
The office of Jerry Brown
In a statement to BuzzFeed News, Brown's office said the governor was "interested in the history and geology of his family ranch in Colusa County—not drilling for oil or gas—and has the same right as anyone to obtain public records."
Gareth Lacy, spokesperson for the governor, argued that Brown was presented with "maps, historical well records, and a one-page summary of the information—not a 51-page report."
The governor's office also said regulators spent hours, not days as the AP reported, compiling the information, and that no one actually went to Brown's land, instead creating the assessment electronically.
Brown's office sent BuzzFeed News the documents the governor's request apparently produced. The documents include a one-page report titled "Oil, Gas and Mineral Potential of West Colusa County." The report mentions the "very low" potential for oil and gas drilling in the area.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1HvM0BF
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