Understanding oil and gas development: potential impacts in western - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Understanding oil and gas development: potential impacts in western Colorado

Carol Kwiatkowski, PhD

Executive Director, TEDX

Photo by Kevin Dirk

Presentation Overview

• Unconventional Oil and Gas

Development (UOG)

• Air Pollution

– Sources – Research in Garfield County – BTEX Review

• Endocrine Disruptors and

UOG

• CHC Air Quality Project

– Methods – Results

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Photo by Robert Donnan

Oil and gas wells in Colorado

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Target formation Water aquifer Drill rig

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Animation by Kim Schultz, TEDX

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Photo by Robert Donnan

Drill rig Buildings Waste pit

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Photo by Robert Donnan

Christmas trees Frack trucks Sand trucks Frack tanks

Worker pic

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Photo by Robert Donnan

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Photo by Robert Donnan

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Heater Treater

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Produced water tanks Condensate tanks

Condensates are feedstock for:

electronics, pesticides, plastics, shampoo, toys, cell phones, pharmaceuticals, sporting goods, clothes, cosmetics, furniture, computers, cars, detergents, food additives, mattresses, fabrics, household products, pots and pans, athletic equipment, food color, airplanes, candy, food packaging, cleaning products, toothpaste, glass, preservatives, TVs, carpet, raingear, men’s toiletries, receipts, laundry products, paint, soap, deodorants, metals, shower curtains, baby products, sunscreens

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Flare

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Compressor

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Effects of unconventional natural gas development

Image from John Adgate. See Adgate et al. 2014. Potential Public Health Hazards, Exposures and Health Effects from Unconventional Natural Gas

• Development. Environ Sci Technol:

doi:10.1024/es404621d.

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Drilling chemicals Drilling pit evaporation Fracking chemicals Evaporation pits Condensate tanks Produced water tanks Separators/heater treaters Compressors Venting and flaring Pipelines, valves, pneumatics Generators Light and heavy trucks

Sources of air pollution

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Methane (natural gas) Carbon dioxide Nitrogen oxides (NOx) Volatile organic compounds Hydrogen sulfide Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) Particulate matter

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Photo by Kevin Dirk

Health effects Volatile chemicals N=131 Soluble chemicals N=210 Skin, eye and sensory organ 94% 95% Respiratory 90% 89% Gastrointestinal and liver 89% 87% Brain and nervous system 81% 60% Cardiovascular and blood 71% 54% Other 67% 49% Kidney 66% 52% Ecological 60% 54% Endocrine disruptors 54% 45% Immune 48% 49% Cancer 37% 22% Mutagen 36% 29%

Health Effects from Volatile and Soluble Chemicals

Colborn et al., 2011

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Reported symptoms

• Headaches, nausea, upper respiratory

irritation, nosebleeds (CO incident database)

• Fatigue, nasal irritation, throat irritation,

sinus problems, burning eyes, shortness

• f breath, joint pain, feeling weak and

tired, severe headaches, sleep disturbance (PA survey)

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An Exploratory Study of Air Quality near Natural Gas Operations

• Weekly sampling for VOCs, PAHs,

carbonyls and methane

• Independent laboratory analysis of samples
• EPA approved methods: TO-12/ PAMS

Protocol; TO-15; TO-11A; TO-13A; M18

Colborn T, Schultz K, Herrick L, Kwiatkowsi C. 2014. An exploratory study of air quality near natural gas operations. Hum Ecol Risk Assess 20(1):86-105.

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Chemicals Detected in at Least 50% of Samples

Chemical name % Detects

methane, ethane, propane, toluene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, naphthalene 100% isopentane, crotonaldehyde 90-99% n-butane, isobutane, n-pentane, MEK & butyraldehyde, acetone 80-89% n-hexane, methylcyclohexane, methylene chloride, phenanthrene 70-79% m/p-xylenes, fluorene 50-69%

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Chemical name % Detects Naphthalene 100% Phenanthrene 76% Fluorene 52% * Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene 38% * Benzo[g,h,i]perylene 33% * Dibenzo[a,h]anthracene 33% * Benzo[a]pyrene 24% * Benzo[b]fluoranthene 24% * Benzo[k]fluoranthene 24% * Benzo[a]anthracene 10% * Chrysene 10% Acenaphthylene 5%

PAHs Detected in Garfield County Air

* Associated with health effects in prenatal exposure studies

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Effects of Prenatal Exposure to PAHs

• At birth: preterm, low birth weight, and smaller skull

circumference (Perera et al. 2004)

• At 3 years old: lower mental development scores (Perera et al. 2006)
• At 5 years old: lower IQ scores (Perera et al. 2009)
• At 7 years old: attention and behavioral problems, metabolic

problems and obesity (Perera et al. 2012; Rundle et al. 2012)

• At 8 years old: reduced white matter on the left side of the brain,

correlated with slower cognitive processing, ADHD behaviors, and conduct disorder (Peterson, et al. 2015)

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• BENZENE (in 44% of samples)

– Preterm birth, decreased prenatal growth, spina bifida – Sperm abnormalities – Increased asthma, wheeze, respiratory dysfunction, bronchitis – Immune dysfunction

• TOLUENE (in 100% of samples)

– Asthma and other respiratory functions – Immune effects, allergic responses – Cardiovascular disease

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Other chemicals of concern

Bolden et al. 2015 “New look at BTEX: are ambient levels a problem?”

What are endocrine disruptors?

• Prenatal development is a critical exposure period
• Adverse effects occur at extremely low concentrations

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Hormones are involved in: development, reproduction, thyroid and immune function, intelligence and behavior, metabolism, and more.

Chemicals that affect hormone signaling.

Hormone Activity in Surface and Ground Water

Hormone activity was higher in test sites than control sites, where it was nearly absent. Chemicals used in natural gas

• perations, some of which were

identified at the test sites by another team of researchers, were also hormonally active.

Kassotis CD, Tillitt DE, Davis JW, Hormann AM, Nagel SC. 2013. Estrogen and androgen receptor activities of hydraulic fracturing chemicals and surface and ground water in a drilling-dense region. Endocrinology: doi:10.1210/en.2013-1697. 29

124,842 births in 57 rural Colorado counties 1,823 children born with a congenital heart defect

The likelihood of having a child with a congenital heart defect increased linearly with the increasing density and proximity of natural gas wells to the mother’s residence while pregnant.

McKenzie LM, Guo R, Witter RZ, Savitz DA, Newman LS, Adgate JL. 2014. Birth outcomes and maternal residential proximity to natural gas development in rural Colorado. Environ Health Perspect: doi: 10.1289/ehp.1306722

Effects of Prenatal Exposure

Density/ proximity of gas wells: No wells within 10 miles

Low

density/ proximity Medium density/ proximity High density/ proximity % Heart Defects

1.3% 1.5% 1.6% 1.8%

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Shale Gas Development and Infant Health: Evidence from Pennsylvania

• Living within 1.6 miles of a well led to

– 25% increase in babies with ‘low birth weight’ – 18% increase in babies born ‘small for gestational age’ – 26% increase in APGAR scores below 8

• Some effects were detected up to 2.2 miles from the

wellhead

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Hill E. 2013. Unconventional Natural Gas Development and Infant Health: Evidence from Pennsylvania. Cornell University: Working Paper, Charles Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. www.dyson.cornell.edu/research/researchpdf/wp/.../Cornell-Dyson-wp1212.pdf.

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Baseline Air Quality Sampling in the Delta County Region of Colorado

Carol Kwiatkowski, Kim Schultz, James Ramey, Theo Colborn

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Study methods

• Three locations on each of two

dates in fall, winter, spring and summer

• Volunteers wore backpacks to

measure air in the breathing zone

• 74 chemicals analyzed by an

independent laboratory

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Chemicals Detected in at Least 50% of Samples

Chemical name % Detects methane 100% ethane 100% propane 100% toluene 100% isopentane 86% n-butane 82% isobutane 77% ethylene 64% naphthalene (PAH) 62%

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Comparison Areas

Denver Weld County Garfield County Delta County Region Population

(2010)

600,158 252,825 56,389 30,952 (Delta County) 15,324 (Gunnison County) Active wells

(2015)

52 22,108 10,949 18 (Delta County) 48 (Gunnison County)

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Denver area  Weld County  Each red dot is a well

Results: Methane

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Methane drainage wells near Somerset

500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 Denver Weld Garfield DCR ppbV

Methane

Results: Alkanes

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Alkanes included: ethane, propane, butane, pentane

50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Denver Weld Garfield DCR

ppbV

Alkanes C2-C5

Results: Alkenes

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5 10 15

Denver Weld Garfield DCR

ppbV

Alkenes

Alkenes included: ethylene, acetylene, propylene

Results: Aromatics

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Photo by LynetteRadio

Aromatics included: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes

1 2 3 4 5

Denver Weld Garfield DCR

ppbV

Aromatics (BTEX)

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

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Other PAHs found in Garfield County (Colborn, 2014): Acenaphthylene, Benzo(a)anthracene, Benzo(a)pyrene, Benzo(b)fluoranthene, Benzo(g,h,i)perylene, Benzo(k)fluoranthene, Chrysene, Dibenz(a,h)anthracene, Fluorene, Indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene, Phenanthrene

5 10 15 20 25 Naphthalene ng/m3 Garfield county Delta county

Health effects of chemicals detected in at least 50% of samples

42 Methane Ethane Propane Toluene Isopentane n-butane Isobutane Ethylene Naphthalene

Skin/eye/sensory

• rgan

X X

Respiratory

X X

Gastrointestinal

X X

Brain/nervous system

X X X

Immune system

X X

Kidney

X X

Cardiovascular/ blood

X X X

Cancer/ tumorigen

X

Genotoxic

X X

Endocrine system

X X

Liver/metabolic

X X X

Other

X X X X

Conclusions from air sampling in the Delta County Region

• Baseline data is now documented in the

Delta County Region

– May help promote industry best practices – Can support remediation

• Other communities can benefit from our

work

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Thank you

The staff at TEDX, especially Kim Schultz CHC Board, and Director Jim Ramey Sampling volunteers and volunteer coordinators TEDX funders

Arkansas Community Foundation, Winslow Foundation, Cornell Douglas Foundation, New-Land Foundation

Air Sampling Study Funders

Patagonia, Maki Foundation, CHC members and other donors

www.tedx.org

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

~ Margaret Mead