07 May CHC Announces Cutting-Edge Air Sampling Project

May 7, 2013

Residents to Test for Hazardous Chemicals Associated with
Natural Gas Drilling Using Wearable Collection Devices

Citizens for a Healthy Community (CHC) announced today that it is launching a cutting-edge air quality sampling project. The project is designed to establish an air quality baseline for the Delta County region by testing for toxic chemicals associated with natural gas drilling.

Local residents will carry backpacks containing air-sampling devices to collect data over 24-hour periods to determine actual human exposure. CHC is beginning to work with local residents to identify sampling locations so that the first round of sampling can begin in September.

Three samples will be collected at the same time at different locations as one collection set. Two sets will be collected in a month during four months over the course of one-year, in order to account for changes in the seasons.  (Click here to read a two-page overview of the project).

The project was developed with input from scientists at The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX). This cutting edge approach to conducting an air baseline project uses backpack air sampling instead of a stationary sampling location. This project will collect air samples to identify if an individual has been exposed to chemicals in the air.

While drilling is relatively minimal in the Delta County region at this time, it is important to establish a baseline to determine the current levels of chemicals associated with drilling prior to any further gas and oil development, especially given the unique wind patterns in the area.  Also, many traditional air sampling projects overlook certain chemicals that can cause serious health effects at very low levels. CHC will test for these chemicals, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), in sampling.

Understanding personal exposure to chemicals is important because of the health effects of certain chemicals used in, or released by, drilling and fracking. According to TEDX, such health effects include harm to the brain and the endocrine and nervous systems, organ damage, and cancer, and other “symptoms such as burning eyes, rashes, coughs, sore throats, asthma-like effects, nausea, vomiting, headaches, dizziness, tremors, and convulsions.”

“It’s what we can’t see or smell—chemicals in the air that come from drilling—that could be harming the health of local families,” said Jim Ramey, Director of CHC. “We expect our air sampling project will serve as a model for other communities across the country who are fighting to protect their health and environment from runaway drilling and fracking.”

Concerns in other gas-patch communities have informed the design of this project.  For example, at the recent rulemakings of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, commissioners heard from numerous Garfield County and the Front Range residents who have experienced health effects that they believe were caused by airborne pollution sourced from drilling. State officials frequently claim that Colorado has the strongest regulations for oil and gas in the nation, but people are still getting sick when drill rigs move in.

“Citizen science is critical to holding the drilling industry and government responsible,” said Weston Wilson, U.S. EPA (retired) and currently with ‘Be the Change – USA.’ “Very few communities have the opportunity to establish their air quality baseline before large scale drilling and fracking begin.”

Currently, drilling in the Delta County region is limited to several wells per year. But, the community is facing numerous proposals that could result in hundreds of new wells in the area.

Citizens for a Healthy Community was formed in 2009 by a group of concerned residents to protect people and their environment from irresponsible oil and gas development in the Delta County Region.

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