BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – California’s energy regulator is trying to force a Kern County oil operator to clean up oilfields that have been out of compliance but whose owner is already facing a lengthy prison sentence.
The California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) earlier this year issued an emergency order to 25 Hill Properties Inc. and its owner, Ronald Engelberg, ordering the firm to remediate an out-of-compliance oilfield sump and out-of-service tank.
In February, Engelberg pleaded not guilty to five criminal and civil felony charges before a Kern County Superior Court judge and was released on bail.
The charges came after CalGEM staff discovered an uncovered pit containing oil, water and a dead bird during an inspection at the Jameson Trust, located south of the city of Taft. Inspectors also found dead birds and rodents in an out-of-service oil tank previously identified as being out of compliance in 2021.
The oil facilities under scrutiny are located within 300 feet of a residence and 800 feet of an elementary school, according to CalGEM’s online finder.
“CalGEM staff observed conditions … that pose an immediate threat to life, health, property, and natural resources, due to the operator’s lack of maintenance, monitoring, reporting, testing, and adherence to safety and decommissioning requirements, ” the emergency order stated.
The order from CalGEM represents the latest legal entanglement for 25 Hill Properties and Engelberg. The company was previously the subject of a civil complaint by the Kern County District Attorney’s office in 2021 after CalGEM inspectors found more than 100 violations including attempting to cover up oil spills and illegal disposal of hazardous waste.
The following year, the parties agreed to a settlement that included fines and an agreement by the company to comply with environmental laws under CalGEM’s watchful eye. Since the pact, however, state inspectors identified 446 new violations as well as 25 more that were present at the time of the 2022 settlement, according to the DA’s office.
Hollin Kretzmann, senior attorney for the non-profit Center for Biological Diversity, was encouraged but not satisfied with the charges hanging over Engelberg and his firm.
“This is probably one of the more egregious cases. But there are plenty of violations out there, either that aren’t being discovered because we aren’t inspecting these sites very frequently or we rely on self-reporting from the operators or a violation is issued and not followed up on for years,” Kretzmann said. “There’s a ton more that can be done, both by the state and local prosecutors.”
Newsom approves new drilling amid enforcement challenges
Environmentalists question how regulators will keep tabs on future incidents involving oil and gas operations now that Gov. Gavin Newsom amended state law to increase production following a three-year moratorium on new drilling permits. Kern County produces nearly 80% of the state’s oil and gas, according to CalGEM’s latest figures.
State regulators approved 128 new drilling permits in the first two months since Senate Bill 237 went into effect, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. This already exceeds the total of 121 approved in a three-year period from 2023 to 2025.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous that on one hand we see these kinds of egregious law-breakers contaminating our water and air and pass the cost of cleanup on to the public,” Kretzmann said. “While California doubles down on fossil fuel production and implementing a ‘drill baby drill’ policy on the other hand.”
Engelberg will appear for a hearing in his criminal case in May. The most serious of the charges he is facing — reckless disposal of hazardous waste in a manner that “places another person in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury” — could land him behind bars for up to nine years under a recently revised law.
Engelberg is also charged with reckless transport of hazardous waste, illegal disposal of hazardous waste, knowingly spilling oil into state waterways and dumping hazardous substances onto roads or waterways.
The California Aqueduct and Kern River are the nearest waterways to 25 Hill Properties’ operation area. The four lesser felonies carry a maximum sentence of up to one year in state prison or county jail.
David Torres, Engelberg’s attorney, did not return multiple messages left at his office. A message left at a phone number listed to Engelberg was not returned.
Company’s bankruptcy may leave taxpayers footing the bill
Engelberg is the owner, director and operator of 25 Hill Properties, which holds multiple oil leases near Taft. The properties contain 48 oil wells, including seven that were in production until last year. The company is ranked the 155th most abundant oil producer in the nation by produced volume, according to the website mineralanswers.com, pumping 734,364 barrels since 2000.
But 25 Hill Properties filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last June and is reported as permanently closed, according to court records.
Although the state can pursue cost recovery from companies that have filed for bankruptcy, taxpayers generally end up holding the bill for cleaning up idle and orphaned oil facilities, which environmental advocates say pose environmental hazards to communities and wildlife.
In Kern County, the federal- and state-funded Project Plug is currently in the process of sealing and plugging nearly 80 wells in the Mountain View Field southeast of Bakersfield as well as fields near Arvin and Fuller Acres.
Indeed, local environment groups say the problems with old oil wells extend beyond 25 Hill Properties.
“I really doubt that this is unique to this particular operator,” said Cesar Aguirre, director of air and climate justice at non-profit Central California Environmental Justice Network. “I think that if CalGEM looked closely at others they’d find these problems are widespread across Kern County.”
Aguirre, who lives in east Bakersfield, pointed to several recent incidents including in 2024, when a Bakersfield oil producer was charged with contaminating the city’s water supply. The case remains tied up in court. Two years earlier, at least 30 wells owned by five different companies in several Bakersfield neighborhoods were ordered plugged after they were found to be leaking unhealthy amounts of methane.
In March of 2025, members of a local equestrian center shared video evidence with the environmental group of a fire caused by an oil spill next to their property. The organization alerted CalGEM, which then sent inspectors to the site, Aguirre said.
“If companies get away with these things in neighborhoods, I’m scared to think about what they get away with in oil fields where there’s restricted access and they get a head’s up before inspectors head out there,” Aguirre said.