Is air pollution from fracking in Erie a legitimate health risk? - A guest post by Jocelyn Lavallee

During the 2013 Colorado State University Natural Gas Symposium session entitled, “Community Engagement and Policy Solutions”, the link between hydraulic fracturing and local air pollution came up. According to A.J. Krieger, the Town Administrator of Erie, Colorado, NOAA “put out a report” stating that propane levels in Erie were severely elevated, which could be a health concern for Erie residents. From the way that Krieger described the report and its affects, it was clear that this was a contentious issue, so I decided to look into it further.

According to the Daily Camera, the “report” that Krieger referred to was a presentation of unpublished, non-peer-reviewed data by NOAA chemist Steven Brown to the Erie Board of Trustees¹. His presentation, which showed that levels of propane were at least 10-fold higher than in Pasadena, CA², was a driving force in the decision by the board to limit fracking operations in Erie. But Krieger and others claim that upon further analysis of the numbers, it became clear that while the levels of propane and other potentially harmful gases are somewhat elevated, they are nowhere near high enough to pose a legitimate health risk². Before this session, we read a comment piece in which Dr. William Howarth explained the potential health risks associated with fracking³. He mentions examples of elevated VOCs (volatile organic compounds) near wells in Texas and Pennsylvania. He also explains that emissions from fracking equipment and trucks use to transport materials can lead to harmful levels of ground-level ozone.

So what does this mean for Erie? Were the concerns raised by the NOAA data truly something to be shrugged off, as Krieger suggested during the symposium session? In a study published in February 2013, researchers from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado, concluded that oil and gas activity contributed, on average, 55 percent of the VOCs linked to unhealthy ground-level ozone in Erie^4,5. So we know that fracking is partially to blame for air pollution in Erie, but are those levels dangerous? According to a recent air quality report by the Colordao Department of Public Health and Environment at the behest of the Erie local government, the health risk due to long-term exposure to the air pollutants in Erie is low⁶. However, this study was conducted at one well only, and over a short period of time. And, according to other studies, the health risks associated with air pollution from fracking wells are not insubstantial⁷. While it is clear that fracking operations cause air pollution, it may not always be at a dangerous level, and thorough studies should be conducted on-site to assess the public health risk. In the case of Erie, the jury may still be out on whether residents are at risk.

¹http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_20126684/noaa-study-erie-gas-drilling-moratorium-fracking-propane-butane

²http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_20464401/scientist-air-still-safe-erie-despite-elevated-propane

³Howarth, RW, Inraffea, A, and Engelder, T. Natural Gas: Should fracking stop? Nature 477: 271–275.

⁴Gilman JB, Lerner BM, Kuster WC, de Gouw JA. Environ Sci Technol. 2013 Feb 5;47(3):1297-305

⁵http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_22390113/cu-boulder-noaa-study-uncovers-oil-and-gas

⁶http://www.erieco.gov/DocumentCenter/View/3240

^7http://attheforefront.ucdenver.edu/?p=2546&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theforefront+%28%40theForefront%29