Drilling Boom Brings Boom in Air Pollution for Grand Junction

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports on the western Colorado city's rising air pollution, and the link to booming natural gas drilling in the area. The paper reports the results of an ongoing air toxics study in Grand Junction, explaining "The study shows the amount of volatile organic compounds and other pollutants in the city’s air are on par with the amount found in the air of Denver and most other urban areas across the country."

Volatile organic compounds, which include hundreds of different chemicals including benzene and formaldehyde, pose a dual threat to community health. Not only are volatile organic compounds hazardous in and of themselves, they react with sunlight to form dangerous ozone pollution, the primary component of smog. Ozone pollution, or smog, is the most widespread and pervasive threat to human health in the Rocky Mountain Region.

Oil and gas developments in Mesa and surrounding counties are already significant source of volatile organic compounds in the region. According to the state of Colorado, oil and gas developments were the source of 90% of Garfield County's volatile organic compound emissions just in 2002.

Contribution of Oil and Gas Developments to Volatile Organic Compound Pollution (based on 2002 data from CDPHE)

County	Total volatile organic compounds from stationary sources (tons per year)	Volatile organic compounds from oil and gas (tons per year)	Contribution to volatile organic compound pollution
Garfield	4,648	4,217	90.7%
La Plata	742	505	68%
Rio Blanco	2,443	2,130	87.2%
Mesa	1,159	435	37.5%

In assessing Grand Junction's air, we cannot ignore the connection between booming natural gas drilling and declining air quality.