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Rising Smog Pollution Fueled by Oil and Gas Drilling Endangering Public Health FARMINGTON, N.M. - WildEarth Guardians and Diné Citizens Against Ruining the Environment (CARE) today filed suit against the Bureau of Land Management over the agency’s refusal to protect public health and curb harmful ozone air pollution in northwestern New Mexico, including on the Navajo Nation, from ramped up oil and gas drilling. “With public health at stake, it’s time for the Bureau of Land Management to start being a part of the solution, not the problem,” said Jeremy Nichols with WildEarth Guardians. “Oil and gas drilling shouldn’t come at the expense of clean air or the health of children and families.” Ozone is the key ingredient of smog. It's a poisonous gas that forms when air pollution from smokestacks, oil and gas operations, and tailpipes reacts with sunlight. It is linked to a number of ill health effects. Most recently, a 2007 study in San Juan County by the New Mexico Department of Health found that increasing ozone levels increased the number of asthma-related hospital visits. High ozone pollution is especially of concern to those living on the Navajo Nation. Diné CARE, an all Navajo organization comprised of a federation of grassroots community activists, is one of the groups filing the lawsuit. “Communities throughout the Four Corners, including our communities on the Navajo Nation, are struggling with harmful air pollution, a legacy of dirty energy development,” said Anna Frazier, with Diné CARE. “We need clean energy solutions that leave a legacy of clean air and healthy children.” Typically an urban air problem, ozone air pollution is becoming a problem throughout the Four Corners region. Ozone level recently climbed dangerously high in San Juan County, New Mexico, violating federal health limits. The violation means the largely rural region will be declared a “dirty air” area, a designation usually reserved for cities like Los Angeles and Houston. Although many sources can contribute to ozone, in northwestern New Mexico oil and gas drilling is a primary culprit. Two key pollutants react to form ozone-volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides. Oil and gas drilling operations are the largest source of volatile organic compounds in the region and are second only to the region’s two coal-fired power plants (the San Juan Generating Station and Four Corners Power Plant) in nitrogen oxide emissions. Collectively, oil and gas drilling operations are the largest source of ozone forming pollution in northwestern New Mexico. Today’s lawsuit challenges the Bureau of Land Management to safeguard clean air throughout northwestern New Mexico. The agency oversees most of the oil and gas drilling in northwestern New Mexico, meaning the agency is largely responsible for allowing ozone air pollution to rise to dangerous levels. The lawsuit targets the agency’s decision to lease more than 22,000 acres of the Farmington Field Office for oil and gas drilling without requiring any air pollution controls. The lawsuit comes as other rural parts of the American West, including western Wyoming, are experiencing unhealthy ozone air pollution that is tied to oil and gas drilling authorized by federal agencies. If successful, today's lawsuit could have far-reaching implications in forcing the Bureau of Land Management to address the impacts of oil and gas drilling to clean air throughout the American West. More Details on San Juan County Violating Ozone Standards: A violation of federal ozone health limits occurs whenever the three-year average of the fourth highest annual readings is higher than 75 parts per billion. The three-year average in San Juan County is now 77 parts per billion. According to State of New Mexico oil and gas drilling operations release more than 60,000 tons of volatile organic compounds, more than any other source. These operations also release more than 30,000 tons of nitrogen oxides. Emissions are expected to increase twofold by 2023. A spreadsheet documenting the ozone levels in 2008 at the Navajo Lake monitor, and calculating the three year average of the fourth highest readings, is available here .A 2007 study by the State of New Mexico Department of Health (Myers, et al) found increasing ozone was linked to increased hospital visits. That study can be downloaded at http://ourcleanair.org/uploads/SanJuanAsthmaDoc.doc .Under the Clean Air Act, the violation means that San Juan County, and likely neighboring Rio Arriba, Sandoval, and McKinley Counties in New Mexico, and La Plata and Montezuma counties in Colorado, will be designated as "dirty air" areas, or "nonattainment." The lawsuit can be viewed here (PDF). |
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