Casualties of Oil and Gas Development

Citizens in western Colorado are fast becoming casualties of the latest oil and gas boom.

A recent Associated Press article calls vivid attention to the health effects oil and gas development is posing to local communities. The bottomline: people are dying, and not just from air pollution, from water pollution and hazardous wastes.

The oil and gas industry is not only messy, it is virtually unregulated. Special exemptions have been carved out in federal laws that allow the oil and gas industry to avoid reporting the toxic chemicals it uses, to avoid having to reduce toxic air pollutants, and to avoid protecting peoples' drinking water. On top of that, the oil and gas industry can drill wells and produce on peoples' property without permission. The industry seems to feel that it can do whatever it wants to whoever it wants, regardless of the consequences.

Unfortunately, the law seems to give them the backing to do so. It's no wonder the oil and gas industry is such a killer.

But that's changing. Stronger rules to limit air pollution from oil and gas developments are being mulled by the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission. The rules would reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds, including toxic emissions of benzene, toluene, and xylenes. While the rules certainly do not go far enough to fully protect our communities from harmful air pollution, they are a first step toward accountability. These rules are slated to be adopted at a hearing December 17th.

It's infuriating what the oil and gas industry has been allowed to do to the lives of people living next to their developments. Surely though, people are standing up to hold the industry accountable to their health. The clean air rules of today are only the beginning.