One thing I try to do with this blog is talk about some of the side effects that are likely to arise with an increase in natural gas drilling around the state. Most of the news coverage revolves around the beneficial economic impacts, but aside from basic economics, there are a whole slate of costs that don’t get calculated, damage to the environment chief among them. One thing that a couple of you have emailed about is air pollution, so I thought I would link to this article.
Scientists in Boulder, CO have found that high levels of ozone pollution can develop around natural gas fields in wintertime. According to the article:
Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration studied ozone levels around two major natural gas fields in southwestern Wyoming and found the pollutant formed quickly on cold February days when three factors converged.
Take a basin with oil and gas-drilling, cover it with stable, cold air, “throw in the snow and the sunlight, and it’s like throwing a match in a gas tank,” said Russell Schnell, lead author of a paper on the matter published Sunday in the journal Nature Geosciences.
Oil and gas rigs are so poorly regulated in this state there’s no telling what’s flying up into our air.