The gas and oil industry is polluting the water, soil and air in
Garfield County, said two presenters Tuesday at a work session with the
Pitkin Board of County Commissioners.
Gas companies are using at least 278
different chemicals to extract natural gas in western Colorado and of
those chemicals, 93 percent have one or more adverse health effects,
said Mary Bachran, a senior research associate with The Endrocrine
Disruption Exchange.
"Among the 93 percent of products on the list
with adverse health effects, 42 percent contain chemicals that have the
potential to disturb the endrocrine system, expressed as problems of
the thyroid, pancreas and gonads to mention a few," stated Bachran's
analysis.
The nonprofit organization, known as TEDX, is
located in Paonia and focuses on health and environmental problems
stemming from low-level exposure to chemicals.
Bachran called for "comprehensive and
continuous water, air and soil quality monitoring" in the gas fields as
one response to the industry's heavy use of toxic chemicals.
Following Bachran's
presentation, Jeremy Nichols of the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Clean Air
told the commissioners that the gas boom in Garfield County was causing
air pollution from smoke, dust and airborne chemicals.
"It is a messy business," he said, explaining
that increased haze, smog, pollution and toxins in the air can all be
traced back to gas drilling and processing activities, which are
rapidly expanding in western Colorado.
"This was just stunning information," said Commissioner Rachel Richards after the presentations.
Commissioner Jack Hatfield said, "We
obviously have a major concern here. We're going to have to do a lot to
clean up this industry."
No representatives of the oil and gas industry were at the county work session Tuesday.
The Pitkin County commissioners will soon be
reviewing the county's oil and gas well regulations in the face of the
gas boom in neighboring Garfield County, especially as the southeastern
edge of the rich Piceance Basin gas field lies within Pitkin County.
The gas and oil boom in Colorado now reaches
to nearly all parts of the state. There are 33,815 active wells in the
state, up from 22,500 in 2002. Meanwhile, 6,368 well permits were
granted in Colorado in 2007 and 2,550, or 40 percent, were for wells in
Garfield County.
In Garfield County, there are approximately
4,423 active wells, and last year the county was the second-highest gas
producing county in the state.
But that production may come with a high environmental cost.
Bachran of TEDX said that a toxic mix of
chemicals is used in the fracturing, or "frac'ing" process, which
involves injecting fluid down into wells to increase the release of
methane, or natural gas. Of the hundreds of thousands of gallons of
fluid that can be pumped into a well during frac'ing, anywhere between
30 percent and 70 percent stays in the ground. And while no one is
really sure where the toxic fluid goes, many fear it will eventually
find its way to underground or surface aquifers.
Some of the fluid that is pumped back out of
the wells is put into large pits to evaporate, which can then pollute
the air. Bachran also said that sludge from the pits is sometimes
removed and then "land farmed," or tilled, back into the soil.
"And we don't know what's in it," she said of the sludge.
Despite efforts to find out, Bachran said her
organization, and the public, still doesn't know every chemical that is
being used in the gas extraction process, how much of a given chemical
is being used, where the toxic frac'ing fluid goes, and what is in the
evaporation pits.
"It's a very sticky situation and we're going to be stuck with it for a long time," she said.
Nichols of Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action
said one especially worrisome byproduct of the gas extraction and
shipping process was benzene, which is linked to leukemia.
Nationally, exhaust from cars and trucks
accounts for 70 percent of the released benzene in the air, but Nichols
said that in Garfield County, the oil and gas sector is responsible for
70 percent of the benzene in the air.
"It is very unfortunate and something we need to get a handle on," Nichols said.
He also said another source of pollution was
from condensate storage tanks, which store the oily water separated
from natural gas in the extraction process.
The desert-brown tanks, now ubiquitous along
the I-70 corridor in Garfield County, are constantly emitting invisible
fumes, Nichols said.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation
Commission, or COGCC, is currently revising some of its rules that
pertain to pollution from oil and gas operations, but industries have
significant exceptions from both the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air
Act, according to Bachran and Nichols.
COGCC requires that industry operators design
and construct wells and facilities to protect groundwater from
contamination during oil and gas operations. The agency coordinates its
efforts with the state Water Quality Control Commission, which is
responsible for setting water quality standards statewide.
bgs@aspendailynews.com