Measuring and Modeling Air Pollution and Noise Exposure Near Unconventional Oil and Gas Development

This report, available for downloading below, presents a study led by  Jeffrey L. Collett Jr. at Colorado State University. Collett and colleagues examined population exposures to air emissions and noise in a major US oil and gas region and developed a model for predicting local exposures and assessing the effectiveness of interventions intended to mitigate emissions to the air.

Key takeaways:

• The study provides measurements of hazardous air pollutants, other air pollutants, and noise associated with unconventional oil and gas development in the Denver-Julesburg Basin of Colorado over a 2-year period from October 2022 to August 2024.
•  With unconventional oil and gas development operators supplying well pad activity logs, Collett and colleagues were able to link air pollutant concentrations and noise levels with specific unconventional oil and gas development operations (e.g., drilling and hydraulic fracturing) over the life cycle of unconventional oil and gas development wells on four multi-well pads.
• Most of the air pollutants and noise levels varied considerably within and among different unconventional oil and gas development operations, with some brief occurrences of high concentrations (spikes) presenting a potential concern for the health of nearby populations.
• The investigators developed the TRACER (TRAcking Community Exposures and Releases) model that can predict hazardous air pollutant and other volatile organic compound emissions from unconventional oil and gas development operations at distances relevant to understanding local population exposures for planned drilling and completion operations and to assess specific efforts or interventions to reduce unconventional oil and gas development effects on air quality.