After water contamination advisory canceled, City of Bakersfield, state regulators seek accountability for Griffin Resources LLC

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Bakersfield’s do-not-drink, do-not-use advisory for the city’s tap water was lifted Sunday, but it’s still not “back to normal” for some businesses.

While the city water system is in the clear, some businesses are taking extra precautions of their own, such as Premier Surgery Center on Commercial Way, one of 42 commercial customers impacted by the water contamination.

The medical facility continued internal flushing throughout Monday and will likely resume typical operations throughout Tuesday.

Bakersfield oil producer under investigation for allegedly contaminating city water supply

“We’re having to manage rescheduling four days of patients that missed their colonoscopies and endoscopies right now, said Melissa Gilkes-Smith with Premier Surgery Center. “So, it’s really frustrating for us, and I’m sure it’s even more so frustrating for the patients.”

Gilkes-Smith added, “Right now luckily we were able to take the bags off the sinks, and patients and everyone can wash their hands normally again.”

Gilkes-Smith said for medical facilities like hers, the water contamination came at the cost of patients.

“We see about 12 to 16 patients per day. So doing the math and everything (for more than four business days impacted), that’s quite a bit of patients,” she said.

The investigation into the contamination also continues, focused on Griffin Resources LLC, a local oil producer. 17 News has reached out to Griffin multiple times, via multiple avenues, since Friday but have not heard back.

Cal Water, the company overseeing the cleanup, said the backflow of oil, which was responsible for the water contamination throughout parts of the city, occurred at a crude oil storage facility at 5401 Office Park Drive.

That’s an address for Griffin Resources LLC, right at the corner of Truxtun Avenue and Mohawk Street.

According to state regulators with the California Department of Conservation’s CalGEM division, one of Griffin’s pipelines is responsible for the leak.

Issues with that specific pipeline go back to 2019.

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Regulators explained that pipeline leaked five years ago and was given an “out-of-service” status thereafter. But this April, it was discovered methane was venting from the pipe. As Griffin tried to fix the pipeline last Tuesday, it flooded the oil pipe with city water to check for leaks.

That’s when the backflow happened — oil went into the city water system.

Cal Water workers and other employees, including the property manager for Office Park Drive, were present at businesses near the Griffin storage site, continuously flushing water.

They told 17 News because those offices were in such close proximity to the initial oil leak, oil went through their internal pipes and was found directly in the water.

Now, questions about accountability for Griffin are growing louder.

The Bakersfield City Attorney’s Office sent a letter to Griffin Resources Thursday, reading in part: “To the extent the City can, it will act to recover any and all costs resulting from the occurrence of this event and any subsequent litigation.”

The letter also said the office “highly encourage[s]” Griffin to reach out to its insurance provider.

City Attorney Ginny Gennaro said, in short, the City will pay for damages if the City is at fault, but that she’s not seeing where the city is at fault for the water contamination.

She also said the City is expecting 100% recovery from Griffin for any reimbursements the City makes. Gennaro said there was no response from Griffin as of Monday afternoon.

Gennaro also noted for any businesses seeking payments, the first step is to file a claim against the city via this form.

Several claims have already been filed, and it cannot be estimated at this time how much the resolution to the contamination issue may cost, the letter to Griffin states.

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State regulators also told 17 News via email that there will be repercussions for Griffin’s actions.

“CalGEM has the authority to issue civil penalties for violations and failure to comply with an order. The penalties for violations can be in the tens of thousands of dollars per day, per violation. This is an ongoing investigation and new information is being gathered each day.”

They also noted they’ve been in contact with Griffin.

“I’m really hoping the city actually goes after the company that caused this issue,” said Melissa Gilkes-Smith, adding that she too will be filing a claim with the City.

“[Griffin’s] insurance or the company should pay you know for all the businesses that were affected.”

You can click this link to read about Griffin’s history of noncompliance, as state regulators describe it.

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