Gas drilling in the air

Texas town study triggers debate

By FRITZ MAYER

TEXAS — While concern has been raised about the contamination of water supplies in connection with gas drilling, a recent study, commissioned by a town in Texas, shows that the air surrounding gas drilling activities may also be a cause for worry.

The town of DISH, TX, which is located in the heart of the Barnett Shale, a major gas-producing formation under 17 Texas counties, is home to numerous gas wells, as well as several large gas-compression stations. Residents have reportedly been complaining about the smells related to this activity, and the mayor of DISH, which is spelled with all capital letters because of an agreement with the company DISH TV, ultimately hired an independent company to perform air-quality testing.

Samples were taken at seven locations on August 17 and 18 by a company called Wolf Eagle Environmental and the report was released in September. A sentence at the conclusion of the report said, “Air analysis in the Town of DISH confirmed the presence in high concentrations of carcinogenic and neurotoxin compounds in ambient air near and/or on residential properties.”

The chemicals found at high levels were sometimes in such large quantities that they were 10 times the recommended safe level for short-term exposure.

Mayor Calvin Tillman, who has been waging a campaign against the drilling companies for the past year or so, told the Fort Worth Star Telegram that the study shows the need for state regulators to step up to the plate on the matter, and the article said the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality plans to test the air there.

The energy companies that own the compression stations denied that the pollutants were connected to their operations and pointed to a study they commissioned earlier in the year that concluded that the air was safe. That study, however, reportedly only tested for the presence of natural gas in the atmosphere and not for toxic chemicals.

Another Barnett Shale study, conducted by Al Armendariz, a Ph.D at Southern Methodist University and released in January, concluded that gas- and oil-related activities throw many pollutants into the air. The study said, “The emission rate of air toxic compounds (like benzene and formaldehyde) from Barnett Shale activities was predicted to be approximately six tons per day on an annual average and 17 tons per day during peak summer days.” While the study covered gas and oil activities, the processes that cause the most pollution, such as the use of diesel engines, the use of condensate tanks and the use of compression stations, are part of both the gas drilling and oil drilling process.

The report also said there are effective ways to reduce the air pollution: “Cost-effective control strategies are readily available that can substantially reduce emissions and, in some cases, reduce costs for oil and gas operators.”

If it is ultimately determined that the air pollution in DISH is coming from the gas facilities, it would likely be up to the state to find a way to remedy the situation because it appears that most oil and gas drilling activity is exempt from the Federal Clean Air Act.

According to the Environmental Working Group website, “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can set standards for individual small oil and gas facilities such as wells and pits if they are within a metropolitan area with a population greater than one million people. Yet much of the drilling occurs outside densely populated areas. The Denver metropolitan area, for example, is the only metro area in the Rocky Mountain West where the population exceeds one million.”

The Scranton, PA metropolitan area had a population of 624,000 in 2000 and it has since declined.