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