Thousands of Americans are dying prematurely because of pollution from oil and gas, according to a new study from four health and environmental advocacy groups, those include Boston University, University of North Carolina, the Environmental Defense Fund (EFD) and Physicians, Scientists and Engineers for Health Energy.
Researchers looked at the year 2016 across the nation, and they found that more than 7,000 people died because of health issues related to pollution from oil and gas production. They did this by running data from two scenarios and seeing how they affect our health. In one, they ran a model looking at our nation if no oil and gas related pollutants existed. In the other, they looked at existing air quality data and known oil and gas pollutants across the country. They compared them to air quality related health data provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), called BenMAP-CE. They found that with oil and gas pollutants in the air, there were health related issues, like increased deaths, asthma and pregnancy issues.
“The pollutants like, nitrogen dioxide, fine particulate matter, which is also known as soot, and ozone, which is also known as smog, from oil and gas activity, contributed about 7,500 excess deaths, over 400,000 asthma attacks and over 2,000 new cases of childhood asthma across the United States in 2016,” said Ananya Roy, a EDF senior health scientist.
Just in the Mountain West for asthma cases per million residents, Colorado ranked 2nd highest, New Mexico fourth and Wyoming 12th. The states also were the top half in the nation for highest rates of deaths per million residents.
But, it is not all doom and gloom. Increasing oversight of the industry could help, said John Goldstein, EDF’s senior director of regulatory and legislative affairs.
“This is not a question so much about ending an industry as it is about making sure that an industry’s negative impacts are minimized as much as possible,” Goldstein said.
He acknowledged the huge economic role the industry has had in some western states, including Wyoming. Just last week, the Petroleum Association of Wyoming released an analysis showing that the industry supported more than 58,000 jobs and contributed almost $11.9 billion toward Wyoming’s economy in 2021.
Goldstein said some increased oversight could include things like better regulating leaks and flaring, something that was implemented in the Sublette County area, which is home to one of the largest natural gas fields in the U.S. Goldstein noted that about 10 years ago the area faced severe ozone – or air quality – issues.
“Kids at the elementary school in Pinedale couldn't go outside for recess on the bad air quality days, which is crazy,” Goldstein said. “This is not LA, we're talking about, you know, this is Pinedale, Wyoming.”
The area was labeled as an ‘ozone nonattainment area’ in 2012 by the EPA, which means there are increased regulations on the nearby natural gas production.
“And as a result, the problem hasn't 100 percent gone away, but it's gotten better,” he said. “The protections that are working in Sublette County can also work in Laramie County, Converse County and Natrona County.”
Environmental Protection Agency regulations addressing these types of regulations are expected to be finalized later this year.
