Science Lags as Health Problems Emerge Near Gas Fields

ProPublica examined government environmental reports and private lawsuits and interviewed scores of residents, physicians and toxicologists in four states—Colorado, Texas, Wyoming and Pennsylvania—that are drilling hot spots. Our review showed that cases like Wallace-Babb's go back a decade in parts of Colorado and Wyoming, where drilling has taken place for years. They are just beginning to emerge in Pennsylvania, where the Marcellus Shale drilling boom began in earnest in 2008.

Concern about such health complaints is longstanding—Congress held hearings on them in 2007 at which Wallace-Babb testified. But the extent and cause of the problems remains unknown. Neither states nor the federal government have systematically tracked reports from people like Wallace-Babb, or comprehensively investigated how drilling affects human health.

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Air Pollution Found at Five Natural-Gas Sites in North Texas

Five natural-gas sites in Fort Worth, Texas, last year produced air pollution that exceeded state regulations, according to a study on the effects of drilling and production in the city.

Eastern Research Group Inc., a consultant hired by the Fort Worth City Council, also found visible emissions at 296 of 388 gas well sites it examined. The study was posted on the city’s website today.

The city requested the study in response to resident concerns that gas drilling, fracturing, compression and collection in the area’s Barnett Shale gas field may have an adverse effect on air quality.

The study may have implications in other onshore fields, such as the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and New York, the Haynesville Shale in Louisiana and the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas, Jason Lamers, a city spokesman, said in an interview. It’s the first study to test for emissions during all phases of gas development, including drilling, hydraulic fracturing, well completion, pipeline operations and compression, Lamers said.

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PROFITS OVER PEOPLE ALERT: Lawmakers Call For EPA To Steer Clear Of Gas-Drilling Regulation

By Ryan Tracy, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- A group of House lawmakers Thursday called for the U.S. government to stay out of regulating natural-gas drilling, saying the responsibility ought to be left to state authorities.

The calls, from lawmakers from Pennsylvania and other states where drilling occurs, came as two federal agencies study the safety of a controversial drilling technique used to extract natural gas.

Industry supporters fear the Environmental Protection Agency, which is conducting a long-term study on how gas drilling affects drinking water, will adopt policies or rules that slow U.S. gas production. A production boom in recent years has been followed by growing concerns about the drilling's environmental impact.

The Energy Department also has convened an advisory panel to study drilling safety. The panel held its first meeting this week.

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201106021519dowjonesdjonline000620&title=lawmakers-call-for-epa-to-steer-clear-of-gas-drilling-regulation

Saving Money and Lungs: Simple fixes could keep tons of drilling pollution out of the air.

Fort Worth Weekly

WEDNESDAY, 01 JUNE 2011 09:00 GAYLE REAVES

The Downwinders, in a release, called TCEQ’s proposed cuts in drilling-related pollution “modest” — the removal of 14 tons per day of VOC from the 100-plus tons per day now being emitted by gas industry activities. The release quoted TCEQ conclusions that gas industry pollution now accounts for more tons of VOC pollution annually than all the cars and trucks in the Dallas-Fort Worth area combined. But because the industry has grown so fast, the problem was not addressed in previous versions of the air quality plan.

“That’s a little crumb toward reducing VOCs in the shale,” said Schermbeck, who represents Downwinders on the oil and gas subcommittee of the clean-air panel. Jordan chairs the subcommittee.

Sattler’s report, Schermbeck said, makes it clear that those emissions could be reduced by up to 90 tons per day if the industry adopted practices that would quickly pay for themselves. Sattler, an environmental engineer at the University of Texas at Arlington, helped draw up earlier versions of the North Texas clean-air plan.

One of the easiest things for the industry to fix would also be one of the most rewarding in terms of reducing pollution, Schermbeck said. That would be for the state to require the industry to retrofit its equipment to get rid of the valves and other mechanisms that Schermbeck said “intentionally leak natural gas due to the way that they work.” Those valves, he said, are the “largest source of VOCs in the gas field.”

Full Article: http://www.fwweekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4801:saving-money-and-lungs&catid=76:metropolis&Itemid=377