UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO | COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY | UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO

Comprehending Health Implications of Natural Gas Development Through Public Health Research

Roxana Witter, MD, MSPHroxana.witter@ucdenver.edu

American Public Health AssociationOctober 30, 2012

Natural Gas-Shale Gas-Unconventional Gas

• 2010-2035: – 29 % increase in NG

production– Most of the increase

is in shale gas

Public Health Research and Literature- In its infancy• Environment Health Perspectives News, 2011

– Review of water, air, regulatory, concerns and lack of health effects studies

• Finkel, 2011 AJPH Commentary– Hydraulic Fracturing Chemicals

• Known: dangerous; some unknown• Multiple pathways for exposure

• Guidotti, 2011 Arch Enviro Occ Health Editorial– Scientific uncertainty– Risk- risk tradeoffs

• climate change vs. local environmental degradation

Policy Responses to Public Health Concerns

• Colorado sketches out proposed oil, gas setback rules– September 24, 2012

• State Health department won't enforce all oil and gas well clean-air rules– October 18, 2012

• New York State Plans Health Review as It Weighs Gas Drilling– September 20, 2012

Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Bill

• Restrict drilling within 1000 ft of a public water supply

• Double distance from water wells– 250 ft 500 ft

• Operator’s presumptive liability for pollution and water loss – 1,000 ft 2,500 ft

February 14, 2012

Hazards to Public Health

• Chemical– Water– Air

• Physical– Noise– Traffic

• Community– Population changes– Physical changes

• Psychosocial– Stress

• Susceptible subpopulations

• Children • Elderly• Fetus • Chronic Disease• Poor

Concerns About Water

• Quantity – 1-2 million gallons/drill– 2-5 million gallons/hydraulic fracture

• Quality– Chemicals

• Hydraulic fracturing, drilling, naturally occurring– Contamination of ground water and surface water

• Disposal– Salts, metals, hydrocarbons, radioactivity (NORM)– Earthquakes

Water-recent Studies and DataPennsylvania Osborne, 2011 PNAS, Warner, 2012 PNAS

• Active gas areas– Methane

concentrations in drinking water higher close to gas wells

• Geochemical evidence for natural fractures between shale gas formations and shallow aquifers– Increased risk for

contamination, especially for fugitive gases

Water-Recent Studies and DataPavillion, Wyoming EPA http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/wy/pavillion/

• Chemicals found in drinking water aquifer

• Consistent with NG operations

• Organic and inorganic chemicals

• NG activities enhanced gas migration to aquifer

• Deep source of contamination (wells, fracturing)– High pH, salts, petroleum

hydrocarbons (BTEX gasoline range organics, trimethylbenzenes) synthetic organic compounds (isopropanol, di&triethylene glycol)

• Shallow source of contamination (pits)– Benzene, xylenes, gasoline

range and diesel range organics in shallow ground water USGS repeated analysis from 2 sites: similar findings

/http://fracfocus.org

Colorado Oil and Gas AssociationColorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission

http://cogcc.state.co.us/COGIS/EnviroSample.asp?facid=750115

“an industry-led voluntary Baseline Groundwater Quality Sampling Program …”

“to demonstrate that drilling operations are safe and do not compromise the quality of Colorado’s important water resources.”

Water Contamination- Risk Analysis Rozell, 2012 Risk Analysis

• Probability bounds analysis• Modeled 5 possible water contamination

pathways– Casing failure, fracture migrations, surface

contamination, transportation, disposal• Wastewater disposal poses highest risk (by

several orders of magnitude)

Wastewater Management

• Spray on roads, lands• Evaporation pits• Discharge to dry/flowing

streambeds• (Municipal wastewater

treatment)

• Deep injection wells (EPA regulated)

Commercial treatment

Reuse/recycling

Wastewater• Drilling fluids• Flowback water• Produced water

• Hydrocarbons, BTEX, fracturing chemicals, salts, metals, NORM, barite

Daily Kos.com

Wastewater ContaminationBalba, 2012 Chemosphere

• High levels of arsenic and selenium in Marcellus shale

• High volume hydraulic fracturing could mobilized these chemicals into wastewater, posing environmental hazard. Newsworks.org

Air Quality

• On site– Silica, Diesel exhaust, BTEX, PM, glutaraldehyde

• Near pad – Diesel exhaust, BTEX, PM (PAH, SO4)

• Regional– Ozone

• Global– Methane

BOLD= Preliminary data of levels

SilicaNIOSH & OSHA

• OSHA-NIOSH HAZARD ALERT

• 11 sites in AR, CO, ND, PA, TX

• 116 Personal breathing zone, full shift samples

• Exceeded OSHA PEL, NIOSH REL, ACGIH TLV

• 31% w/ levels above what respirator could handle

Centers for Disease Controlhttp://www.osha.gov/dts/hazardalerts/hydraulic_frac_hazard_alert.html

Local Air Quality(near pad) Mckenzie, 2012 Sci Total Environ

Health Risk Assessment• EPA screening assumptions• 24 samples from near well pad• 163 samples from ambient air in

NG area• Risk of sub-chronic and chronic

non- cancer health effects elevated

• Excess cancer risk slightly higher

Contributing Chemicals • Aliphatic hydrocarbons• Trimethylbenzenes• Benzene• Xylene• 1,3 Butadiene• Ethylbenzene

National Geographic

Suspected Effects on Pets, Livestock, Humans Bamberger, 2012 New Solutions

• Case series (24)• Animal owners in six states (CO,

LA, NY, OH, PA, TX)• Water exposures

– Well casing failures, blowouts, wastewater dumping and leakage, fracturing/drilling chemical spills

• Air exposures– Flares, compressor station

• Animal health effects– Reproduction, milk production, poor

condition (skin, GI, urological, respiratory, neurological), death

• Human (owner) effects– Respiratory, neurological, skin, GI

Frank Finan

Regional Wintertime Ozone Wyoming, Utah Schnell, 2009 Nature Geoscience

NOx from combustion

VOC from wells, tanks, compressors

SunlightSnow reflection

Ozone 100-125 ppbNAAQS 75 ppb

http://deq.state.wy.us/aqd/Ozone%20Main.asphttp://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_20042330

JENNIFER FRAZIER

Predicted Regional Ozone Impacts in TX and LA Kembal-Cook, 2010 Enviro Sci Technology

• Ozone Impacts of Natural Gas Development in the Haynesville Shale– Increases of 5 ppb

from increased precursors 2 to NG

FIGURE 4. Twelve km grid ozone modeling results: a) Episode average difference in daily maximum 8-h ozone (ppb): HaynesvilleLow Secenario-2012 Baseline and b) Episode average difference in daily maximum 8-h ozone (ppb): Haynesville High Scenario-2012Baseline and c) Episode maximum difference in daily maximum 8-h ozone (ppb): Haynesville Low Scenario-2012 Baseline and d)Episode maximum difference in daily maximum 8-h ozone (ppb): Haynesville High Scenario-2012 Baseline.

Global Climate Change & NG Lifecycle Topic of much debate and uncertainty

NG Combustion• Less CO2

emissions than coal– Also less

mercury into the atmosphere

NG Whole lifecycle• Methane 20x

stronger GHG • Methane leakage

– Extraction– Processing– Distribution– Inefficient engines

Lifecycle GHG EmissionsBased on emission estimates

• Howarth, 2011 Climatic Change – Shale gas > conventional gas> coal

• Weber, 2012 Environ Sci Technol– Shale gas = conventional gas < coal

• Burnham 2012 Environ. Sci Technol– Shale gas = conventional gas < coal

• Alvarez, 2012 PNAS– NG < coal (electricity generation); – NG > gasoline, diesel (transportation)

• Due to inefficient engines and leaky distribution system

Lu, 2012 Environ. Sci. Technol.

CO2 emissions from power plants decreased in 2009 relative to 2008, due to cheaper NG

Methane Leaks

http://www.picarro.com/about_picarro/

Nathan Phillips, Picarro

Measurements of GHG in Atmosphere Greater than Estimates

• Katzenstein, et al 2003• Methane and other hydrocarbon

emissions from oil and gas fields underestimated

• Petron, 2012 J Geophysical Atmospheres• Methane from Natural Gas activities in

Colorado likely underestimated by a factor of 2

Planned Research

• University of Colorado – Air and water quality, social science, human health, information

technology, outreach and education

• Colorado State University– Assess air emissions and dispersion of drilling, hydraulic fracturing,

flowback in Garfield County, CO– Data released in 2015

• Geisinger Health System– Pennsylvania integrated health care delivery system– Longitudinal dataset of health outcomes for researchers to determine

NG related health outcomes– Health, environmental, community, occupational data

Thank You!