Steve Craig is used to oil companies operating near his ranch in the smooth, rounded hills of southern Monterey County.
But Craig draws the line at "fracking."
A company called Venoco Inc. wants to try hydraulic fracturing in the Hames Valley near Bradley, using a high-pressure blend of water, sand and chemicals to crack rocks deep underground and release oil locked in the stone.
The same technique has revolutionized America's natural gas business in the past five years, boosting production and driving down prices. It has also been blamed for tainting groundwater near fracked wells, a charge that drilling companies deny.
Anyone living near the Hames Valley has long experience with the oil industry. The San Ardo oil field - a thicket of pipes, power lines and pump jacks - sits about 5 miles up Highway 101, a source of petroleum and jobs since 1947.
But the possibility of polluted water alarms Craig and others, who have appealed to the county government to block Venoco. The fact that California, so far, does not regulate fracking bothers Craig just as much.
