My, how a little science can change the equation.

Last month, the Erie Board of Trustees rejected the idea of imposing a moratorium on new oil and gas drilling to address citizens’ concerns that hydraulic fracturing—or “fracking”—had led to a rash of health problems. They preferred to implement new water and air monitoring and to work with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to explore Erie-specific requirements on future drilling permits.

But then Erie resident April Beach—a member and spokeswoman for Erie Rising, an anti-fracking grassroots group—stumbled across a year-old report by the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration showing that the air in Erie is more polluted with drilling-generated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) than major metro areas like Pasadena, Calif., and Houston, Texas. VOCs such as ethane, propane and butane—byproducts of oil and gas operations—are found in Erie’s air at up to (and sometimes exceeding) 10 times the volume as can be found in those cities.

“For ethane, you’re seeing average levels on the order of 50 parts per billion and I will tell you now, that’s a very large number,” NOAA researcher Dr. Steve Brown, who was involved in the 2011 study, told the trustees at Tuesday’s meeting. “Levels on the order of 20-30 parts per billion, even at night, are very large levels of a compound like propane.

“Propane is much, much larger in Erie than it is in major urban areas elsewhere and that’s a clear signature that we’re impacted by the oil and gas (operations),” he said.

Ethane, propane and butane are all explosive in the right gas/air mixture. Exposure to propane can produce symptoms such as dizziness, bloody noses, nausea and vomiting, unconsciousness and damage to the central nervous system, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The study, which was conducted over the course of a month last spring, wasn’t initially meant to study how drilling causes air pollution. The scientists initially wanted only to better understand how weather and temperature affected the habits of certain pollutants and to study the composition of Denver’s infamous “brown cloud.” But because of the high level of data collected on the composition of Erie’s air—data that included wind speed and direction, and which took into account pollution migrating from Denver—it was expanded to include a study of emissions from the oil and gas industry.

The study was never made public and it’s only through Beach’s curiosity that it came to light at all.

“I had no clue what I was looking for” when she called NOAA asking if anyone had studied air pollution in Erie, she said. She called Brown, whose name she found on the NOAA website, on something of a whim. He sent back pages of technical data indecipherable to most laymen and it took some back and forth with him to have it interpreted. When she showed the study to Erie Town Administrator A.J. Krieger, she said he urged her to have Brown present the trustees with the results.

It’s safe to say that many trustees were stunned by the high levels of alkanes (the family of oil-and-gas-related compounds that include ethane, propane and butane) in Erie’s air.

“Would you say they were extraordinarily high?” Trustee Mark Gruber asked Brown.

“You could use that language,” Brown replied.

The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to draft an emergency ordinance placing an immediate 180-day moratorium on future drilling, which will be voted on March 13. The moratorium will not affect current drilling operations taking place at 58 active well pads within two miles of downtown Erie.

What Brown couldn’t comment on were the potential health impacts of his findings. That discussion will take place tonight, March 1, at the Erie Community Center, 450 Powers St., at 6:30 p.m. Erie Rising will feature a talk by Sonya Lunder, a toxicologist and senior analyst for the Environmental Working Group. The event is free and open to the public.

Lunder’s talk was scheduled weeks ago, but it’s due to Beach’s blind luck in uncovering Brown’s report that she’ll be able to address his findings.

“It was a total shot in the dark,” Beach said. “I’m so thankful I asked. But it makes me wonder, what else do we need to know that we’re not asking for?”

The post Erie’s air is worse than L.A.’s for oil and gas pollution appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Dave Neslin, the director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission—the state agency in charge of regulating oil and gas operators who’ve created much uproar and controversy in Boulder County through their use of hydraulic fracturing—announced he will step down from his industry oversight position to join Davis Graham & Stubbs, a Denver law firm that represents (you guessed it) oil and gas companies.

Davis Graham & Stubbs counts Encana Oil & Gas among its clients, the well operator that sparked a fracking controversy in Erie with plans to open an eight-well drilling pad just a few hundred yards from both of its elementary schools. Just weeks ago, Neslin attended an Erie Board of Trustees meeting to discuss fracking in his role as industry watchdog. Encana representatives were also present at the meeting and, as of March 1, he’ll be part of Encana’s outside legal team.

“This says a lot about where he’s been coming from when he’s been at public hearings for God knows how long,” said Erie resident Wendy Leonard, a member of an anti-fracking grassroots group called Erie Rising.

As an organization, Erie Rising had no comment on Neslin’s move, said spokeswoman April Beach.

Davis Graham & Stubbs represented Encana as recently as last year, when it petitioned the state engineer for a finding that certain groundwater formations beneath Encana oil fields in Garfield County were “nontributary,” meaning Encana wouldn’t need to go through the added cost and headache of obtaining a water permit for extracting it as a byproduct of drilling activities from deep below the surface.

Chris Richardson, the law firm’s managing partner, said that although Encana is a client, they don’t get involved in the company’s day-to-day operational issues, which are usually left to in-house lawyers. Therefore, Encana spokeswoman Wendy Weidenbeck said, Neslin’s new job would have no impact on local issues.

Still, Davis Graham & Stubbs touts many areas of expertise among its lawyers that are of direct concern to Erie residents. On the law firm’s website are links to presentations detailing strategies for dealing with lawsuits alleging fracking-related health effects and updates on pending litigation and regulatory issues.

And regulatory issues are Neslin’s forte. Appointed as acting director of COGCC in 2007, he “piloted the overhaul of Colorado’s drilling regulations—a long and politically charged exercise,” writes the Denver Post. Thanks to Neslin, Colorado has what are widely regarded to be some of the toughest drilling regulations in the country and Davis Graham & Stubbs is clearly excited to have him on board to help its oil and gas clients navigate them.

“Dave’s expertise and history with the COGCC will be a tremendous asset to our energy clients who are committed to developing their projects in a responsible manner,” Richardson is quoted as saying in a press release.

To be sure, the law firm represents more oil and gas companies than just Encana. Richardson would only say that there are a “variety of them.” The law firm’s website goes into a bit more detail:

“These clients range from individuals, partnerships, independents, and small companies to major joint ventures and Fortune 500 companies,” it says. “Many of our clients are foreign, including companies based in Canada, France, Germany, England, Japan and Australia. We also assist U.S. clients with activities in numerous foreign countries.”

There is a bright side to the top state-level overseer of the oil and gas industry now working on behalf of that industry, at least in the eyes of one fracking opponent.

“The positive piece on this is that hopefully we’ll get someone in there that isn’t biased,” said Leonard.

Neslin could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The post Oil & gas regulatory chief quits to advocate for oil & gas industry appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

If Erie residents who are concerned about hydraulic fracturing thought they would be alone in their fight against oil and gas companies, they may be pleasantly surprised to learn that they’re wrong.

Fracking—the practice of pumping a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into wells to crack rock and release oil and gas—has generated opposition across the country due to fears that the practice is unsafe. U.S. officials quoted in a recent Bloomberg article say even though fracking has been a common practice for 65 years, not enough is known about the potential hazards of the chemicals used. Erie residents are worried about air and water pollution and many have reported health problems ranging from headaches to nosebleeds to gastrointestinal illness, according to recent articles in the Daily Camera. These complaints are echoed by people across the country living near fracking operations. If there’s any bright side to others experiencing similar symptoms, it’s that they’re eager to help those in Erie who have suddenly found themselves thrust into the national debate

Erie Rising, a 10-day-old grassroots group calling for oil and gas companies to prove that fracking is safe, has been fielding offers for help and assistance from as far away as New Mexico and California on its Facebook page. A Boulder group called Earth Guardians has offered to “join forces to stop fracking in Erie;” an anti-fracking coalition in Huerfano County has offered messages of support and advice; California-based Global Community Monitor has been in touch about DIY pollution monitoring; and activists in New Mexico have forwarded information and resources.

“We’ve even been contacted by a community in England that wants to support us,” said Erie Rising member April Beach, who emphasized that she is just one of scores working to hold companies accountable.

Such support is likely welcome after a packed meeting of the Board of Trustees Tuesday night, where the idea of a temporary moratorium on fracking operations was floated but ultimately not acted upon. More than 100 people attended to air their complaints. Some residents are reportedly so concerned that they are considering moving out of town and many described illnesses they attribute to oil and gas operations.

Beach said the point of the meeting was less about a possible moratorium (which she said Erie Rising members never officially requested), but to demonstrate that “the town doesn’t know as much as it should” about the potential health and environmental impact of the chemicals used.

Industry representatives—and those of the state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which oversees drilling throughout the state—have said the practice is safe and well-regulated. Regardless, there’s little the town can do if it believes otherwise. Erie’s control over drilling operations is confined to land-use issues and local governments don’t have the power to banish oil and gas companies. In fact, as Erie residents packed Town Hall on Tuesday, Commerce City residents were listening to a panel of state experts tell them just that. Commerce City, like Longmont, instituted a moratorium on fracking in December, which will expire this month. Longmont’s expires in April.

Fracking opponents in Erie have more than just similarly affected civilians on their sides. On Monday, a group of doctors at a drilling conference at the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington called for a nationwide moratorium on fracking until the health effects of chemicals used in the practice can be better understood.

We don’t have a great handle on the toxicology of fracking chemicals,” said Vikas Kapil, chief medical officer at National Center for Environmental Health, in an article in Bloomberg.

The post Erie’s fracking opponents get support from all corners appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.