Disposal of Oil Field Brines in the
San Joaquin  Valley of California
JAMES M. MORRIS, JR., Chief,
Special Investigations Section,
San Joaquin Valley Branch,
Department of Water Resources,
The Resources Agency of California,
Sacramento, California.
This paper presents a summary of accomplishments of a continuing program
for investigation of the water pollution aspects of oil field waste water disposal
practices in the San Joaquin Valley of California. The program is being conducted
by several state agencies, one of which is the California Department of Water Resources. Basic objectives of this program are to obtain and analyze information
necessary to detect water pollution which might result from the disposal of oil
field waste waters and to provide information to alleviate problems.
In addition to summarizing results of studies made to date, this presentation
will consider the results of recent field investigations which involved the use of
carbon filters for detection of ground water pollution. Also, descriptions are given
of studies and field experiments being conducted to develop new techniques for
disposal of oil field waste waters.
BACKGROUND
During the late 1940's, the California Legislature adopted a number of water
pollution control measures, now referred to as the "Dickey Acts." Under these
acts, the state was divided into nine regions, corresponding to the major drainage
basins; a separate water pollution control board was established to administer water
pollution control activities within each of the regions. Accompanying this water
pollution control legislation were a number of legislative enactments which, in
effect, directed other state agencies concerned with various aspects of water (Department of Fish and Game, Public Health, and Water Resources) to provide technical advice and assistance to the regional boards. The area to be reported upon
is under the jurisdiction of the Central Valley Regional Water Pollution Control
Board (No. 5).
One of the first acts of the Central Valley Regional Water Pollution Control
Board, after it was formed in 1950, was to recognize the pollution potential involved in the disposal of oil field brines. After several years of concerted effort,
the board obtained specific authorization for the Department of Water Resources to
conduct geological and waste disposal studies (1) which provided the basic information discussed in this paper.
Petroleum Production
The significance of petroleum production to the economy of California can
best be appreciated when one realizes that the value of petroleum produced in
California in 1962 amounted to $969, 317, 000 (2). This amount represented 68 per
cent of the dollar value of all mineral production for the entire state. Although
oil production in California does not rank with that of Texas or other exceedingly
oil-rich areas, California produced 11 per cent of the nation's crude oil during
1962 (3).
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