Enough is enough. Kern County residents are supportive and respectful of the local oil industry. After all, it’s one of the mainstays of the region’s economy. It provides income for many local families and businesses.

Oil companies must earn that support and respect. They must operate in a responsible manner. Most do.

But the behavior of Griffin Resources LLC, a local oil producer with offices in Bakersfield and Ventura, has been neither respectful, nor responsible. Griffin produces oil in several fields in Kings and Kern counties, including Bakersfield’s Fruitvale Oil Field.

Earlier this month, Cal Water disconnected Griffin’s Office Park Drive address from its service after confirming oil flowed from the property into Bakersfield’s water system. That was followed by the isolation of 42 commercial customers, including many health care companies, surgery centers and an 86-bed rehabilitation hospital in the area including Office Park Drive, Commercial Way, Commerce Drive and Truxtun Avenue between Mohawk Street and Westside Parkway. No residential customers were affected.

State oil regulators said the contamination appears to have been caused by a valve or valves left partially open during a pipeline pressure test at Griffin’s crude oil storage facility.

State records indicate Griffin was performing work in response to an order by the California Geologic Energy Management Division, whose inspectors reported finding, in one area, numerous leaks at a series of wells and a flow line that was taken out of service years ago. At Griffin’s Office Park Drive location, where the water contamination apparently originated, CalGEM found electrical lines running through spilled oil partially covered with dirt, among other problems.

Griffin’s owners did not respond to The Californian’s requests for comment. But their son, Stephen Griffin, responded by telephone that he had no knowledge of the backflow accident. “I can tell you that didn’t happen on purpose,” he said.

After nearly a week of service interruption and flushing of water lines, California Water Co. and the city of Bakersfield, agencies that provide water service to the area, lifted their do-not-drink, do-not-use advisories. Some companies that suffered substantial, if not total, interruptions had to rent portable toilets and rely on bottled water even for washing hands. Affected businesses reported substantial revenue losses during the outage.

“On behalf of the city of Bakersfield and … (Cal Water) team, we apologize for the inconvenience this improper customer connection and backflow event has caused and thank you for your patience as we worked to restore the system to normal operations and confirm that water was safe to use and drink again. Protecting your health and safety is our highest priority,” a customer advisory stated.

For several years, state regulators have struggled to force Griffin to correct problems at its oil facilities.

In May 2022, Griffin was accused by state regulators of allowing methane to leak from more than two dozen wells the company owns in Central California, including in Bakersfield’s Fruitvale Oil Field. The California Geologic Energy Management Division demanded Griffin ensure its wells have been repaired, even after the company appealed an emergency order to permanently plug and abandon some of its wells.

In 2019, Griffin was the subject of a state-issued emergency remediation order after inspectors found evidence it had improperly disposed of waste, maintained inadequate containment measures and failed to properly label an oil tank, among other alleged violations, at its operation in the Fruitvale field.

It’s obvious that enforcement actions are falling short of protecting Kern County residents from the failures of Griffin to operate in a safe manner. The recent oil contamination of water and loss of water service demonstrate the real consequences.

Kern residents and businesses are owed more than an apology. They deserve ongoing reports from regulators regarding cleanup and regulatory actions. Griffin owes residents and businesses an apology, as well as detailed plans of how it will clean up its operation.