Testosterone Replacement Therapy in Lost Hills, CA

Last month, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill banning the creation of new oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of community areas, like schools and neighborhoods. It also prevents major retrofitting of existing wells within this setback area.

But days after it became law, a lobbying firm filed a referendum proposition to reverse it on behalf of Jerome Reedy, a California Independent Petroleum Association (CIPA) board member. The lobbying firm represents a number of oil and gas industry leaders, like Exxon Mobil and Chevron. This past week, a signature-gathering effort was launched to try to get California voters to reconsider the law.

Supporters of the referendum effort need to gather just over 623,000 signatures by Dec. 15 to get it on the 2024 general election ballot. If successful, the law would be put on hold until that election instead of going into effect this coming January.

Before the law passed, buffer zones or setbacks between wells and communities varied in different parts of California, with many areas having no setbacks at all. Kobi Naseck, coalition coordinator for Voices in Solidarity Against Oil in Neighborhoods, said that this law is necessary to safeguard communities from the impacts of pollution.

“We know there's plenty of vast oil fields in California that aren't next to schools, for example,” Naseck said. “We're just asking these oil and gas operators to relocate their operations to those places.”

Naseck said that he’s heard from colleagues that signature-gatherers have appeared at grocery stores and gas stations, claiming that the law will increase gas prices. He added his concern that if oil industry leaders spend enough on signature gathering, it could threaten the law.

“I can't tell you specifically where this will go, but I can say that if they put up the money, then it's very likely that they will be able to buy the law that they want,” he said.

In a press release issued to promote the signature-gathering effort, the California Independent Petroleum Association (CIPA) said that the law “instituted a statewide 3,200-foot oil well setback without any scientific basis.” The statement also said that “decreasing in-state energy supply” would result in higher gas prices and reliance on imported foreign oil.

“This is why we have setbacks set by the state and local areas based on peer-reviewed studies by the state of California,” said a CIPA spokesperson in an email. “We do ourselves an injustice if we don’t follow the science and just act on emotion and headlines grabbing.”

Naseck said that these criticisms were misleading and false. On the 3,200 foot setback, he points to a CalGEM document that was put together ahead of the law’s passage in 2021. In it, a group of California researchers assembled responses to questions about creating setbacks and living near oil and gas wells.

In the document, researchers say that there are no studies designed specifically to test and establish a “safe” distance between oil and gas wells and community areas like neighborhoods. However, they write that “studies consistently demonstrate evidence of harm at distances less than 1 km, and some studies also show evidence of harm linked to [oil and gas development] activity at distances greater than 1 km.”

The researchers add that studies also show that increasing distance from oil and gas wells decreases “the likelihood and magnitude” of human exposure to numerous environmental stressors.

Given that a kilometer is just over 3,200 feet, Naseck said that the document supports the need for a setback area of that distance. Naseck added that California isn’t the first to establish a statewide setback.

“Colorado has a setback that was passed a couple of years ago, and there hasn't been a huge drop in in-state [oil and gas] production since then,” he said.

The governor’s office has criticized the referendum effort on social media and its claims that the law will contribute to rising gas prices.

Keeping harmful drilling near schools & homes will NOT lower gas prices.Oil companies are using record profits to fight a law that protects kids from the impacts of drilling in their communities - including increased risks of cancer, asthma, & more.https://t.co/P0Qz33FzRI

— Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) October 20, 2022

Daniel Villaseñor, Newsom’s deputy press secretary, said in an email that the majority of oil and gas wells in California would not be impacted by this law. He added there are ample scientific studies and evidence to support the 3,200 foot setback and its impact on human health.

“Proximity to oil extraction harms health and is linked to negative outcomes like asthma and birth defects,” Villaseñor said in an email. “California’s setback law is supported by a panel of public health experts convened by the state’s oil and gas regulatory division, which found that studies consistently show evidence of harm to health at exposure distances of less than 3,200 ft.”

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify that the referendum proposition was not filed on behalf of the oil companies, but a California Independent Petroleum Association board member.

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(23ABC's Grace Laverriere contributed to this report)

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Earlier this week, CalTrans shut down Highway 46 just West of town in Lost Hills. The shut down is expected to remain in place until mid-November.

Shutting down this popular route to the coast comes as summer wanes. Most travelers use digital maps to navigate their routes. For those not in a hurry, a few extra minutes are no big deal.

Vacationers Amanda and Chris Kanne spoke with 23ABC at Blackwells Corner. They said the closures were easily navigated by Google Maps’ redirection.

“We did see some backups, but we've been able to be going opposite the direction of most traffic because we're on vacation and not going to work. So it's really been really smooth for us. I think that the maps we've been using, Google Maps has taken us around most of the difficult areas and taking us to the fastest route really well,” Amanda Kanne said.

And for some, the detours, aren’t detours at all.

“I think it's quicker to get to Bakersfield that way and saves us time and gas,” Kenneth Remo explained.

For workers along Highway 46 near Lost Hills, the impact is much greater.

Lupe Martinez is a manager at the Pizza Hut inside the Countryside Market. She told 23ABC the closures affect the scheduling for her and her co-workers.

“We've already had some closures due to the fact of them trying to expand and fix the road and everything. And it's been on both sides. And it's impacted us very greatly because hours get cut, people have rent and bills to pay and it's already gotten slow,” Martinez said.

If you are planning on heading East or West along Highway 46, CalTrans is advising drivers to stay aware of the posted detour signs.

While the shut down has closed off Highway 46 for travel between Kern County and San Luis Obispo County, there are two alternate routes that CalTrans is advising drivers to take.

The northern route uses Interstate 5 and Highway 41 and the southern route uses Lerdo Highway, State Route 33 and I-5.

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Copyright 2023 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

This story appears in the November 22, 2015 issue of Forbes. Subscribe

Lost Hills, California was best known for years as the town 30 minutes southeast from where James Dean crashed his Porsche in 1955. That's not saying much. Unincorporated and historically impoverished, it's a gritty town of 2,412 people, most of whom are Hispanic farm workers. Driving through, one passes a ramshackle tire shop and pool hall. But unlike the other small communities that dot California's Central Valley, this one is just miles away from thousands of pistachio and almond acres owned by billionaire couple Stewart and Lynda Resnick, which has been a boon for the town lately.

Perhaps scarred by the bad publicity they received in Fiji, where they own Fiji Water, the Resnicks are being much more proactive in the Central Valley, and in particular Lost Hills, where half of the homes have at least one family member working at their Wonderful Company . While they had been making charitable contributions to local nonprofits over the years, Lynda says she took matters into her own hands in 2010, after what she describes as a philanthropic awakening.

Six years ago, she and her team started with focus groups to figure out what they thought they most needed, and then to verify the findings, went door-to-door in 2010 to about 550 households (aside the two meth labs in town, she jokes). In 2011, they built some sidewalks for the town and also started drafting a master plan for the community park. A refurbished basketball court came first, and later into 2011, they officially reopened it as Paramount Community Park (now called Wonderful) with an additional track, two soccer fields, solar-powered lights and a community center offering free zumba and English as a second language classes.

Across the greater Central Valley region, the company has more than tripled its education funding since 2012. This year it is spending more than $10 million, helping support two preschools and a charter high school that is due to get a new $25 million campus courtesy of the Resnicks by the end of next summer. In the past five years, the company has helped 55,000 students in the region through programs like college prep, scholarships and summer camps. One education program they built and partially fund, which was just awarded an $8.5 million grant from the state in June to help them expand it, gives 200 students a year partial agricultural education and college scholarships to gain technical experience. It will reach 2,000 students in four years. It addresses an industry-wide lack of skilled technical agriculture workers, and Lynda says she hopes to bring the program to other sectors at a conference in the spring.

There is also a focus on improving employees' health. It has built two bilingual, free health care clinics for employees (one near the nut farms, one near their citrus farms), many of whom are likely to develop diabetes (87% of their employees are predicted to be prediabetic or diabetic by the time they’re 50, according to results based on a company survey). The clinics provide free screenings for diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, among others. Each also has two full-time primary care doctors. Every employee’s family now also has a health coach.

Next up: with the USDA, they are building 82 affordable, three-bedroom homes and apartments to open in January. Rent will be between $350 to $700 a month depending on the employee’s salary. The Resnicks have even built and financed Lost Hills’ first sit-down restaurant, Gabby’s, which opened in September. Lynda says it has killer Mexican food, but even better, it gives Lost Hills residents access to fresh vegetables in what’s otherwise largely a food desert.

ATLANTA, April 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Reflecting its long-standing commitment to develop the full portfolio of energy resources, Southern Company subsidiary Southern Power today announced the acquisition of a controlling interest in the 32-megawatt (MW) Lost Hills-Blackwell Solar Facility in California from First Solar, Inc. Remaining interest in the project will be owned by an affiliate of First Solar.

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"Southern Company continues to strategically develop solar renewable projects across the country," said Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO Thomas A. Fanning. "By further diversifying our energy mix – and expanding our partnership with First Solar – we are demonstrating our commitment to provide clean, safe, reliable and affordable power for America's future."

The Lost Hills-Blackwell Solar Facility spans two sites – the 20-MW Lost Hills Solar Facility and the 12-MW Blackwell Solar Facility – comprising a combined 308 acres of adjoining land in Kern County, California. The project consists of more than 454,000 of First Solar's advanced technology PV solar modules mounted on single-axis tracking tables. In its first year, Lost Hills-Blackwell will be capable of producing enough clean, renewable energy to power more than 11,000 homes.

"This deal builds on our continued strong relationship with Southern Company, and we're proud to further enhance the partnership," said First Solar's Vice President of Project Development for the Western United States Brian Kunz. "In addition to assets Southern Power has acquired from First Solar, we have worked together directly on construction and supply of technology for projects across the United States."

Construction of the project began in April 2014, and is expected to be completed shortly after this acquisition. The facility will be operated and maintained by First Solar.

The electricity and associated renewable energy credits generated by the facility will be sold under long-term power purchase agreements with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Roseville Electric.

Headquartered in San Francisco, PG&E provides energy to approximately 16 million people in Northern and Central California. Roseville Electric serves as the community-owned electric utility provider for the city of Roseville, California.

With the addition of this and other announced projects, Southern Power will own approximately 990 MW of renewable energy generating capacity that is either already in operation or under development. Southern Power recently announced an agreement to acquire the company's largest renewable electric generating plant and first wind project – the 299-MW Kay Wind facility. In addition, the company has previously announced the acquisition of seven solar projects in partnership with Turner Renewable Energy and one solar project in partnership with First Solar. The company is also developing a 131-MW solar facility in Taylor County, Georgia, and two solar projects totaling 99 MW in Decatur County, Georgia. Southern Power also owns one of the nation's largest biomass power plants in Nacogdoches, Texas.

The Lost Hills-Blackwell Solar Facility fits Southern Power's business strategy of growing its wholesale business through the acquisition and construction of generating assets substantially covered by long-term contracts.

About Southern Power

Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, is a leading U.S. wholesale energy provider meeting the electricity needs of municipalities, electric cooperatives and investor-owned utilities. Southern Power and its subsidiaries own or have the right to own 23 facilities operating or under construction in nine states with more than 9,400 MW of generating capacity in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas.

About First Solar, Inc.

First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) is a leading global provider of comprehensive photovoltaic solar systems which use its advanced module and system technology. The company's integrated power plant solutions deliver an economically attractive alternative to fossil-fuel electricity generation today. From raw material sourcing through end-of-life module recycling, First Solar's renewable energy systems protect and enhance the environment. www.firstsolar.com

About Southern Company

With more than 4.5 million customers and approximately 46,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast through its subsidiaries. A leading U.S. producer of clean, safe, reliable and affordable electricity, Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for energy innovation, excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are below the national average. Southern Company and its subsidiaries are leading the nation's nuclear renaissance through the construction of the first new nuclear units to be built in a generation of Americans and are demonstrating their commitment to energy innovation through the development of a state-of-the-art coal gasification plant. Southern Company has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense and G.I. Jobs magazine as a top military employer, listed by DiversityInc as a top company for Blacks and designated a 2014 Top Employer for Hispanics by Hispanic Network. The company received the Edison Award from the Edison Electric Institute for its leadership in new nuclear development, was named Electric Light & Power magazine's Utility of the Year for 2012 and is continually ranked among the top utilities in Fortune's annual World's Most Admired Electric and Gas Utility rankings. Visit our website at www.southerncompany.com.

Cautionary Notes Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

First Solar

This release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include statements, among other things, concerning: our business strategy, including anticipated trends and developments in and management plans for our business and the markets in which we operate; future financial results, operating results, revenues, gross margin, operating expenses, products, projected costs, warranties, solar module efficiency and balance of systems (BoS) cost reduction roadmaps, restructuring, product reliability and capital expenditures; our ability to continue to reduce the cost per watt of our solar modules; our ability to reduce the costs to construct photovoltaic (PV) solar power systems; research and development programs and our ability to improve the conversion efficiency of our solar modules; sales and marketing initiatives; and competition. These forward-looking statements are often characterized by the use of words such as "estimate," "expect," "anticipate," "project," "plan," "intend," "believe," "forecast," "foresee," "likely," "may," "should," "goal," "target," "might," "will," "could," "predict," "continue" and the negative or plural of these words and other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and our projections about future events. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements for any reason. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, the matters discussed in Item 1A: "Risk Factors," of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other reports filed with the SEC.

Southern Company and Southern Power

Certain information contained in this release is forward-looking information based on current expectations and plans that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information includes, among other things, statements concerning the construction and subsequent operation of the Lost Hills Blackwell Solar Project, the future generating capacity of Southern Power and its subsidiaries' facilities, the development of solar projects in Taylor County and Decatur County, Georgia and the acquisition of a wind facility in Oklahoma. Southern Company and Southern Power caution that there are certain factors that can cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information that has been provided. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is not a guarantee of future performance and is subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of Southern Company and Southern Power; accordingly, there can be no assurance that such suggested results will be realized. The following factors, in addition to those discussed in each of Southern Company's and Southern Power's Annual Reports on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, and subsequent securities filings, could cause actual results to differ materially from management expectations as suggested by such forward-looking information: the ability to control costs and avoid cost overruns during the development and construction of generating facilities, to construct facilities in accordance with the requirements of permits and licenses, and to satisfy any operational and environmental performance standards, including the requirements of tax credits and other incentives; and potential business strategies, including acquisitions or dispositions of assets or businesses, which cannot be assured to be completed or beneficial to Southern Company or Southern Power. Southern Company and Southern Power expressly disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking information.

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SOURCE Southern Company

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When Saul Ruiz heard about the McKittrick oil seep, which first occurred in May and is now being cleaned up by Chevron and state agencies, his first reaction was worry: Worry for the McKittrick residents and environment nearby, but also for residents of other similar communities. “My worry was that problems like these could expand to other communities like Taft, Buttonwillow, Lost Hills,” he says in Spanish.

Lost Hills: A community of 2,400 tucked between the I-5 and an oilfield about 20 miles north of McKittrick in Western Kern County. It’s where Ruiz settled 34 years ago and now lives with his wife, eight of his nine kids, and dozens of chickens. “What I like about this town is that it’s very relaxed, very tranquil,” he says. “Aside from the poor air quality, I love this town.”

Air quality is a perennial concern in Lost Hills, where Ruiz worries it’s worse than elsewhere in the Valley. Residents complain of smells like rotten eggs and chemicals. When his daughter was young, she landed repeatedly in the emergency room with asthma attacks. If the air is worse here, he wondered, is it because of the highway running through town, pesticides used in the nearby orchards, or something else? “I think it has a lot to do with being so close to the oilfields,” he says.

More than 5,000 wells, the nearest only a quarter mile away from Lost Hills, stretch toward the horizon to the northwest and southeast. It’s one of the 10 most productive oil and gas fields in the state.

But it’s hard for Lost Hills residents to know what’s in their air. The nearest government-funded air monitor is 30 miles away in Shafter. So to better understand his environment, Ruiz joined the Lost Hills Committee in Action, a grassroots group trying to improve the quality of life in town. He’s now the president. Last year, after public meetings and discussions, the committee and two non-profit partners won a $400,000 state grant to place seven high-tech air monitors around town.

Finally, Ruiz thinks, he might get some answers. “It brought new life into me,” he says. “I was really excited to know that for the health of my family, that we’d be able to start addressing the contaminants in the air.”

“The goal with these monitors is to monitor the different contaminants that’re commonly found near oil/gas sources and ag sources,” says Jesus Alonso with the environmental advocacy group Clean Water Action, one of the partners on the grant. We meet at a food truck on Lost Hills’ main drag, where families and laborers are eating tacos and burritos. Alonso gets a tamarind-flavored Mexican soda, though he’ll be back for a carne asada burrito later in the day.

Beginning this past May, he explains, the monitors, which look much like white electrical boxes, were placed in various locations around town and will be recording air quality until December 2020. Provided by the environmental consulting group Blue Tomorrow, their data available live online, the monitors are measuring pollutants like particulate matter, ozone, volatile organic compounds and methane. “They'll be armed with the knowledge to not only create change with their personal lives, but create change for their community,” Alonso says.

Augustin Bernardino, who’s lived in Lost Hills for 47 years, says the wind carries many odors into town. There’s the wind from I-5 the east, carrying particulate matter that’s increasingly being linked to respiratory and cardiovascular problems, and the wind from the pistachio and almond fields north and south of town, where many pesticides are known irritants and one commonly applied chemical has been revealed to cause neurological problems. However, “the most toxic one is the wind that comes from the west,” Bernardino says, “and west of us is the oilfields,”

Do residents have reason to be concerned about petroleum emissions? The research says maybe. “The reason why is we really cannot put people in labs and control everything else that’s happening to them,” says Lisa McKenzie, a public health researcher at the University of Colorado who studies petroleum development in urban areas. “People are exposed to a lot of things.”

Without access to laboratory studies with control groups, she’s built her research around observing large populations over long timeframes. In neighborhoods near petroleum development in Colorado, she’s found an increased risk of congenital heart defects and childhood cancers among those raised near oilfields.

What she demonstrated, however, was a correlation, not direct cause and effect, which she warns takes time. “I often refer people to looking at how long it has taken to make those links between smoking cigarettes and cancer and some of the secondhand smoke studies,” she says.

Similarly, a 2015 study by the Washington-based environmental group Earthworks called out Lost Hills as one of two California communities especially at risk from oil and gas impacts to both air and drinking water quality. After collecting air samples and infrared imaging in the Lost Hills oilfield, author Bruce Baizel found traces of methane and isoprene, an organic compound that’s been designated a possible carcinogen.

“The chemicals are there in the air and the people have symptoms that are consistent with the kind of symptoms that, if you do rat research in a lab or something, the rats would have,” Baizel says, referring to symptoms like skin irritation and chronic coughing. Like McKenzie, however, he couldn’t demonstrate cause and effect.

The state also recognizes gaps in air quality knowledge related to petroleum development. Earlier this year, the state Air Resources Board, or ARB, launched its own program to monitor air quality specifically near oil and gas sources. The program’s first study community is Lost Hills, where monitors will be in place for six months until December 2019. “We really don’t know what we don’t know,” says ARB’s Carolyn Lozo. “There is the potential to have impacts from oil and gas, as there is the potential to have impacts from other sources as well. That’s exactly what we’re hoping this study will tell us.”

For its part, the local San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District tracks emissions using 39 monitors distributed across the Valley. “We’re confident that the network we have established captures the peak for the Valley, which is what we really want to know,” says Jon Klassen with the air district. “But of course, if there’s projects out there that can collect data in these areas that we haven’t had historical monitoring, that’s always good to know, to see that data.”

The Western States Petroleum Association turned down an interview request for this story, but in an email statement, President Catherine Reheis-Boyd writes the association supports the ARB monitoring program “throughout the state and especially in the Lost Hills community due to the community’s proximity to both mobile and stationary sources...That program provides important data to the industry and all Californians concerned about air quality.”

In Lost Hills, Saul Ruiz is so enthusiastic about that data, he agreed to place one of the monitors just outside his house. The one he’s most excited about, however, is at the point in the community that’s closest to the oilfields: The elementary school.