Kyle Ferrar, MPH, Author at FracTracker Alliance

About Kyle Ferrar, MPH

Western Program Director

Kyle Ferrar is the Western Program Director at FracTracker Alliance where the majority of his current projects focus on extraction activities in California and Colorado. His time and energy is focused on supporting the needs of grassroots organizations in these geographies. Kyle has worked on extraction related environmental justice issues since 2007, and began his career as a staff researcher at the Center for Healthy Environments and Communities at the University of Pittsburgh, where he completed his graduate work.

His current work focuses on connecting the knowledge of empirical research with the stories told by regulatory monitoring data, and leveraging these connections to uplift the lived experiences communicated by frontline communities.

At home, he lives well above the snowline in the Western Sierras with his dogs and partner, where they explore the backcountry for fun and adventure.

Phone: (415) 890-3722
Email: ferrar@fractracker.org

Read Kyle's Staff Spotlight

Entries by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

Systematic Racism in Kern County Oil and Gas Permitting Ordinance

June 8, 2020/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

Kern County, California has approved at least 18,356 illegal permits to drill new and rework existing oil and gas wells from 2015 – 2019 (data downloaded May 18, 2020). In a monumental decision in February of 2020, a California court ruled that a Kern County oil and gas ordinance paid for and drafted by the […]

California, Back in Frack

May 7, 2020/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

California is once again a fracked state. The moratorium on well stimulations (hydraulic fracturing and acidizing) that lasted since June 26, 2019 has now come to an end. As of April 3rd, 2020, California’s oil and gas regulatory body, California Geological Energy Management Division (CalGEM), approved 24 new permits to frack new wells. The wells […]

California Setback Analyses Summary

April 2, 2020/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

FracTracker Alliance has conducted numerous spatial analyses concerning the proximity of oil and gas extraction infrastructure to sensitive receptors, including healthcare centers, locations where children congregate, locations where the elderly congregate, as well sensitive habitat for endangered and threatened wildlife. In this article, we summarize the results of a handful of these analyses that are […]

Governor Newsom Must Do More to Address the Cause of Oil Spill Surface Expressions

February 24, 2020/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

Chevron and other oil and gas companies in western Kern County have drilled so many oil and gas wells that they have essentially turned this area of California into a block of Swiss cheese. As a result, several of the most over-developed oil fields (in the world!) are suffering from gushing oil seeps known as […]

Oil & Gas Well Permits Issued By Newsom Administration Rival Those Issued Under Gov. Jerry Brown

February 22, 2020/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

FracTracker Alliance and Consumer Watchdog worked together to produce a map of all oil and gas permits issued in 2019, under Governor Newsom’s watch. Our previous collaborative reports revealed conflicts of interest within the oil and gas regulatory agency, and showed that the rate of permitting new fracking operations and all oil and gas well […]

California is Frack Free, for the Moment

November 19, 2019/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

Permitting New Oil and Gas Wells Under the Newsom Administration

July 11, 2019/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

California regulators halt well permitting after Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker reveal a surge in well permits under California Governor Newsom October 24th, 2019 update: There have been several exciting updates since FracTracker Alliance and Consumer Watchdog released a report on fracking and regulatory corruption under Governor Newsom’s administration, detailed in the article below. On July 11th, […]

Impact of a 2,500′ Oil and Gas Well Setback in California

July 2, 2019/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

Why does California need setbacks? A new bill proposed by California State Assembly Member Al Muratsuchi (D), AB345, seeks to establish a minimum setback distance of 2,500′ between oil and gas wells and sensitive sites including occupied dwellings, schools, healthcare facilities, and playgrounds. A setback distance for oil and gas development is necessary from a […]

Idle Wells are a Major Risk

April 3, 2019/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

Designating a well as “idle” is a temporary solution for operators, but comes at a great economic and environmental cost to Californians Idle wells are oil and gas wells which are not in use for production, injection, or other purposes, but also have not been permanently sealed. During a well’s productive phase, it is pumping […]

Literally Millions of Failing, Abandoned Wells

March 29, 2019/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

By Kyle Ferrar, Western Program Coordinator, FracTracker Alliance In California’s Central Valley and along the South Coast, there are many communities littered with abandoned oil and gas wells, buried underground. Many have had homes, buildings, or public parks built over top of them. Some of them were never plugged, and many of those that were […]