Energy production is booming in Colorado, helping to fuel local economies and boosting revenues from state severance taxes. However, the drilling processes are sending ghostly particulates into the environment.
It’s a problem on Colorado’s Front Range and in the producing counties in the West.
Two proposals before the state Air Quality Control Commission this week aim to reduce the haze-inducing pollutants that escape from the growing number of oil and gas wells dotting Colorado.
The measures are not punitive, and would put public health above the mad dash to drill.
Tight rules are needed because the spike in the number of drilling permits – so far a 24 percent increase from 2005 – has put the city of Denver in danger of violating federal clean-air rules.
Much of the problem in the Denver area stems from what are known as condensate tanks. It was originally figured that the ozone-forming “flash” emissions from these tanks would equal 146 tons a day in 2007. Today, the estimate is 233 tons a day, mostly because of activity in the gas-rich Wattenberg Field in northern Colorado.
Ozone, an odorless, colorless gas, can cause respiratory problems, particularly during the summer. It’s particularly hazardous for people whose breathing is already compromised from an ailment, such as asthma. Ozone also is a chief ingredient in smog, and is part of the reason for Denver’s brown cloud even though more and more cars are running on cleaner gasoline.
Flash emissions need to be held at 91 tons a day to comply with an ozone-pollution agreement the region has with the Environmental Protection Agency.
The air quality commission will consider two proposals to reduce emissions levels on storage tanks: One would require a 95 percent reduction in the “volatile organic compounds” released from tanks along the Front Range that emit more than 11 tons of fumes a year. The other proposal would require the same reduction on tanks elsewhere in Colorado that emit more than 20 tons a year.
We think tanks outside the Front Range should also be subject to the tighter rule, but we urge the commission to at least approve the proposals before them this week if it is reluctant for the moment to establish tighter out-state requirements.
Colorado settings are dealing with worsening smog because of the release of ozone-forming fumes. The commission needs to take action; there’s no need for energy production to jeopardize the public health or Colorado’s clean skies.
