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HEALTH IMPACTS OF OIL AND GAS WELLS IN BERNALILLO COUNTY

Although most people in Albuquerque remain unaware, a Texas based oil company, Tecton, has signed a lease to drill for oil on 50,000 acres on the West Mesa. Tecton has already started looking for oil with three wells, and if they strike oil, we in Albuquerque could be living next to more than a thousand wells.

The medical and public health communities believe strongly that this is the wrong prescription for Albuquerque.

Oil and gas wells release hundreds of toxic chemicals, increase ozone levels and smog, and contribute to air pollution. The oil drilling itself also puts our water supplies at risk, as the oil companies will inject chemicals into our underground aquifers and drinking water supplies.

There is good evidence linking these chemicals and “volatile organic compounds” to cancer, reduced fertility, birth defects, and neurologic problems. The increasing smog and ozone also will likely lead to an increase in asthma and other respiratory illnesses – especially among the most vulnerable such as our children and elders.

Drilling could expose the entire city to toxic chemicals and pollution
If the drilling goes ahead as planned these are problems that will affect everyone in the Albuquerque area – not just those living near the wells. Albuquerque is both downwind and below the area of the drilling, which means that the toxic emissions will tend to drift over and then settle in the entire Rio Grande valley.

There was a time that oil and gas drilling took place in isolated remote areas and didn’t put people at risk. But now with gas prices through the roof, companies are looking everywhere and they want to drill next to our homes, our neighborhoods, our schools, our hospitals, and our drinking water supplies.

Toxic substances can be released into the environment from active wells, abandoned wells, and other facilities used in the oil and gas production process. Wells can directly vent toxic materials into the air. Oil spills or leaking wells can introduce contaminants into soils or water. Liquid and solid waste products are often dumped in open pits in the ground or even sprayed into the air.

Toxic fluids can seep into the groundwater when these pits are not properly lined, and volatile toxic materials in the pits can evaporate into the air. In addition, stormwater can carry these toxic materials to other locations. Produced water—the fluid that is pumped out of the well and separated from oil and gas—is often nothing like water we drink and can contain oil.

Without the cooperation of industry regulators in requiring oil and gas companies to disclose the complete make-up and volumes of chemicals in their products, a realistic evaluation of their immediate and long term effects on health and the environment cannot be made. Nor can acutely affected individuals living in and oil- or gas-development areas readily or realistically assess their exposures.

What are the health effects of chemicals used in the oil and gas industry?

There are thousands of chemicals used in the oil and gas industry, and many of them are toxic to humans and animals. Oil and gas operations can release hazardous substances, such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (known as the “BTEX” chemicals); radioactive materials; hydrogen sulfide; arsenic; and mercury.

These toxic chemicals can cause:

• cancer;
• damage to the central nervous system, dizziness, and headaches;
  lung diseases and breathing difficulties;
• fertility problems;
• nausea and vomiting; and
• eye and nose irritation.

Click here for a PDF version of this fact sheet

For More Information:
www.OGAP.org
www.NRDC.org
www.PSR.org