Hydraulic Fracturing or Fracking Information: CRITICAL REVIEWS & NEW RESEARCH

Dr. John Adgate, Colorado School of Public Health Professor, co-authored this review, published in February of 2014 in the peer-reviewed American Chemical Society journal "Environmental Science & Technology." It evaluates risks to public health from stressors associated with unconventional natural gas development; the study identifies public health research needs.

Christopher Moore and colleagues summarize the current state of research regarding air quality impacts; they recommend the six steps be taken to fill critical knowledge gaps: (1) pre-development air quality measurement; (2) a full chemical classification of emissions; (3) independent measurement of methane leaks; (4) inventory of abandoned wells; (5) measurement of variation of emission composition and magnitude; and (6) increase access for purposes of measurement and other collaborative activities between scientists, regulators, and operators.

Avner Vengosh and his co-authors identify four potential risks for water resources: (1) contamination of shallow aquifers with fugitive hydrocarbon gases; (2) contamination of surface water and shallow groundwater from spills, leaks, or disposal of inadequately treated wastewater; (3) accumulation of toxic and radioactive elements in the soil near disposal or spill sites; and (4) over extraction of water resources.

Sociologist Jacquet describes four keys areas of community risk: rapid industrialization, uneven distribution of costs and benefits, community conflict, and social/psychological stress and disruption. He identifies the following knowledge gaps: intergenerational transfer of wealth, relationship between health outcomes and disruption, effects of stigma on long-term investment and sustainability, long-term development picture for industry, and the need for transparency from industry.

Colorado School of Public Health researcher Roxana Witter and her colleagues note that the oil and gas extraction industry has an occupational fatality rate seven times higher than general industry. They report that some workers are exposed to crystalline silica at hazardous levels, and other hazards include possible exposures to particulates, benzene, noise, and radiation.

Detlev Helmig, a scientist at CU-Boulder's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, co-authored this article that describes an air quality monitoring study in the western Utah. Dr. Helmig and his fellow researchers found high levels of volatile organic compounds in this remote, sparsely populated region. The researchers note their "observations reveal a strong causal link between oil and gas emissions, accumulation of air toxics, and significant surface production in the atmospheric layer." They conclude the article by noting that current setbacks of approximately 150 meters [~500 feet] in Colorado, "raises concern regarding the long term exposure of citizens residing nearby and emphasizes the importance for monitoring and assessing air quality and health impacts from oil and natural gas operations."

In this May 7, 2014 press release, NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science at CU-Boulder announces the results of a study to be published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. Lead author Gabrielle Petron and her colleagues took intensive airborne measurements of the air in Weld County. They found that oil & gas operations leaked nearly three times as much methane as predicted, seven times as much benzene, and twice as many VOCs.

Scientists at ChemRisk LLC analyzed 77 groundwater contamination spills, chiefly in Weld County, that were reported in the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission database from July 2010 to July 2011. They concluded: "While benzene can occur naturally in groundwater sources, spills and migration of chemicals used for hydraulic fracturing activities have recently been thought to be a main source of benzene contamination in groundwater. However, there is little scientific literature to support that claim. Therefore, we accessed a publicly available database and tracked the number of reported surface spills with potential groundwater impact over a 1-year period. Although the number of surface spills was minimal, our analysis provides scientific evidence that benzene can contaminate groundwater sources following surface spills at active well sites.