Journal of Science Policy & Governance | Volume 18, Issue 01 | March 24, 2021

Policy Memo: Maximizing the Economic Benefits of Hydraulic Fracturing while Mitigating the Risk to Human Health in Colorado

John Patrick Boyle

United States Military Academy, Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering, West Point, NY

Corresponding author: [email protected]
Download PDF
https://doi.org/10.38126/JSPG180103
Keywords: hydraulic fracturing; fracking; Colorado; human health; energy
Executive Summary: Over the past two decades, hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as ‘fracking’, in Colorado has increased crude oil and natural gas production exponentially. This growth continues to benefit the Colorado economy and employs hundreds of thousands of residents across the state (U.S. EIA 2020a; Hochman 2019). However, despite these economic benefits, studies over the past ten years demonstrate that fracking presents serious environmental and human health risks, particularly to those who live near wells. Hydraulically fractured wells can release toxic hydrocarbons into the atmosphere as well as contaminate land and water supplies, which puts Colorado residents living within 1 kilometer of these wells at an increased risk for adverse dermal and upper respiratory symptoms (Jackson et al. 2014, 347-348; Rabinowitz et al. 2015, 25). Additionally, people living within ½ mile of a well are at an increased risk for developing cancer (McKenzie et al. 2012, 85). Colorado Senate Bill 19-181 responded to this issue in 2019 by delegating regulation of fracking to local jurisdictions (SB 19-181). However, this legislation attempts to solve a statewide issue at a local level and is therefore an inconsistent and insufficient response. For this reason, I urge the Colorado state government to reclaim the authority to regulate fracking and implement a policy to ban all wells within 3000 feet of residential areas and schools, effective 2 years from date of passage. This measure will reduce residents’ exposure to toxic chemicals and their risk of disease while allowing the fracking industry to continue to benefit the Colorado economy and energy sector.​

-Read the full article through download.-
Download PDF

References

  1. Aczel, Miriam R., Karen E. Makuch, and Manel Chibane. “How much is enough? Approaches to public participation in shale gas regulation across England, France, and Algeria.” The Extractive Industries and Society 5, no. 4 (November 2018): 427-440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2018.10.003.
  2. Albritton, Daniel L., Myles R. Allen, Alfons P. M. Baede, John A. Church, Ulrich Cubasch, Dai Xiaosu, Ding Yihui et al. Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Accessed January 18, 2021. https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/WGI_TAR_full_report.pdf.
  3. American Oil & Gas Historical Society. “Shooters – A “Fracking” History.” Last modified April 20, 2020. https://aoghs.org/technology/hydraulic-fracturing/.
  4. Avery, Greg. “Colorado oil and gas well permitting cut in half by drilling reforms.” Denver Business Journal, November 8, 2019. https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2019/11/08/colorado-oil-and-gas-well-permitting-post-reform.html.
  5. Bartik, Alexander W., Janet Currie, Michael Greenstone, and Christopher R. Knittel. “The Local Economic and Welfare Consequences of Hydraulic Fracturing.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 11, no. 4 (October 2019): 105-155. https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20170487.
  6. Bazant, Zdenek P., Marco Salviato, Viet T. Chau, Hari Viswanathan, and Aleksander Zubelewicz. “Why Fracking Works.” Journal of Applied Mechanics 81, no. 10 (October 2014): 101010-1-101010-10. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4028192.
  7. Clark, Douglas. “Organizations oppose Colorado SB 19-181.” Daily Energy Insider, March 21, 2019. https://dailyenergyinsider.com/news/18315-organizations-oppose-colorado-sb-19-181/.
  8. Colborn, Theo, Carol Kwiatkowski, Kim Schultz, and Mary Bachran. “Natural Gas Operations from a Public Health Perspective.” Human and Ecological Risk Assessment 17, no. 5 (September/October 2011): 1039-1056. https://doi.org/10.1080/10807039.2011.605662.
  9. Collins, Vicky. “Colorado oil and gas industries in COVID slump, likely won’t recover until mid-2021.” Empowering Colorado, December 14, 2020. https://empoweringcolorado.org/2020/12/14/oil-and-gas-workforce/.
  10. Colorado College. “The 10th Annual Survey of Voters in the Rocky Mountain West.” Last modified December 17, 2020. Accessed January 16, 2021. https://www.coloradocollege.edu/other/stateoftherockies/conservationinthewest/.
  11. Czolowski, Eliza D., Renee L. Santoro, Tanja Srebotnjak, and Seth B. C. Shonkoff. “Toward Consistent Methodology to Quantify Populations in Proximity to Oil and Gas Development: A National Spatial Analysis and Review.” Environmental Health Perspectives 125, no. 8 (August 2017): 086004-1 – 086004-11.       https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1535.
  12. Davis, Charles, Jonathan M. Fisk. “Energy Abundance or Environmental Worries? Analyzing Public Support for Fracking in the United States.” Review of Policy Research 31, no. 1 (January 2014): 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1111/ropr.12048.
  13. Denchak, Melissa. “Fracking 101.” Natural Resources Defense Council. Last modified April 19, 2019. Accessed November 13, 2020. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/fracking-101.
  14. Ericson, Sean J., Daniel T. Kaffine, and Peter Malinoff. 2019. “Costs of increasing oil and gas setbacks are initially modest but rise sharply.” Colorado School of Mines Working Paper 2019-06, Division of Economics and Business, Golden, CO. https://doi.org/10/1016/j.enpol.2020.111749.
  15. Finley, Bruce. “Colorado to tighten oversight of oil and gas sites near homes in wake of study finding possible short-term health effects.” The Denver Post, October 17, 2019. https://www.denverpost.com/2019/10/17/colorado-oil-gas-health-risks-study/.
  16. FracTracker. “Colorado Oil and Gas Activity.” Last modified August 12, 2020. Accessed November 13, 2020. https://www.fractracker.org/map/us/colorado/.
  17. Gold, Russell. “The Texas Well That Started the Fracking Revolution.” The Wall Street Journal, June 29, 2018. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-texas-well-that-started-a-revolution-1530270010.
  18. Goodwin, Stephen, Ken Carlson, Ken Knox, Caleb Douglas, and Luke Rein. “Water Intensity Assessment of Shale Gas Resources in the Wattenberg Field in Northeastern Colorado.” Environmental Science & Technology 48, no. 10 (2014): 5991-5995. https://doi.org/10.1021/es404675h.
  19. Hochman, Nate. “Colorado’s Anti-Fracking Law Illustrates the State’s Growing Divide.” National Review, July 24, 2019. https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/07/colorados-anti-fracking-law-illustrates-the-states-growing-divide/.
  20. Jackson, Robert B., Avner Vengosh, J. William Carey, Richard J. Davies, Thomas H. Darrah, Francis O’Sullivan, and Gabrielle Petron. “The Environmental Costs and Benefits of Fracking.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 39 (2014): 327-362. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-031113-144051.
  21. John, Zira Quaghe. “Fracking in Colorado: Evidence, politics and policy change.” Cambridge Journal of Science & Policy 1, no. 2 (2020): 1-9. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/322485779.pdf.
  22. Kharaka, Y. K., J. J. Thordsen, C. H. Conway, and R. B. Thomas. “The Energy-Water Nexus: Potential Groundwater-Quality Degradation Associated with Production of Shale Gas.” Procedia Earth and Planetary Science 7 (2013): 417-422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeps.2013.03.132.
  23. Little, David R. and Diana S. Prulhiere. “Colorado.” Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal 5, no. 2 (2019): 117-127. https://digitalcommons.law.ou.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1210&context=onej.
  24. Loris, Nicolas and Katie Tubb. “Colorado’s Discovery of Massive Oil and Gas Reserves: A Case for Local Energy and Environment Policy.” The Heritage Foundation. October 24, 2016. https://www.heritage.org/environment/report/colorados-discovery-massive-oil-and-gas-reserves-case-local-energy-and#:~:text=The%20discovery%20makes%20Colorado's%20Mancos,barrels%20of%20natural%20gas%20liquids.
  25. Marcacci, Silvio. “Plugging Abandoned Oil Wells Is One ‘Green New Deal’ Aspect Loved By Both Republicans And Democrats.” Forbes. September 21, 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/energyinnovation/2020/09/21/plugging-abandoned-wells-the-green-new-deal-jobs-plan-republicans-and-democrats-love/?sh=1e59729e2e10.
  26. McKenzie, Lisa M., Roxana Z. Witter, Lee S. Newman, and John L. Adgate. “Human health risk assessment of air emissions from development of unconventional natural gas resources.” Science of the Total Environment 424 (May 2012): 79-87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.02.018.
  27. Orlando, Michael J. Colorado Oil & Gas Industry Economic and Fiscal Contributions, 2017. Denver: University of Colorado Denver, Business School, 2019. Accessed September 21, 2020. https://www.coga.org/uploads/1/2/2/4/122414962/coga_economic_fiscal_impacts_-_final.pdf.
  28. Rabinowitz, Peter M., Ilya B. Slizovskiy, Vanessa Lamers, Sally J. Trufan, Theodore R. Holford, James D. Dziura, Peter N. Peduzzi, Michael J. Kane, John S. Reif, Theresa R. Weiss, and Meredith H. Stowe. “Proximity to Natural Gas Wells and Reported Health Status: Results of a Household Survey in Washington County, Pennsylvania.” Environmental Health Perspectives 123, no. 1 (January 2015): 21-26. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1307732.
  29. Rosa, Lorenzo, Maria Cristina Rulli, Kyle Frankel Davis, and Paul D’Odorico. “The Water-Energy Nexus of Hydraulic Fracturing: A Global Hydrologic Analysis for Shale Oil and Gas Extraction.” Earth’s Future 6, no. 5 (May 2018): 745-756. https://doi.org/10.1002/2018EF000809.
  30. Senate Bill 19-181, Colorado Session Law (2019).
  31. Snyder, Jennifer, Regi Oommen, and Mike Pring. “Oil and Gas 101: An Overview of Oil and Gas Upstream Activities and Using EPA’s Nonpoint Oil and Gas Emission Estimation Tool for the 2017 NEI.” Presentation at 2017 Emission Inventory Conference, Baltimore, MD, August 15, 2017. https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-10/documents/oil_and_gas_101_training_8_15_17.pdf.
  32. Thomas, Merryn, Nick Pidgeon, Derrick Evensen, Tristan Partridge, Ariel Hasell, Catherine Enders, Barbara Herr Harthorn and Michael Bradshaw. “Public perceptions of hydraulic fracturing for shale gas and oil in the United States and Canada.” WIREs Climate Change 8, no. 3 (May/June 2017): 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.450.
  33. U.S. Energy Information Administration. “Colorado Field Production of Crude Oil.” Last modified August 31, 2020. https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=mcrfpco1&f=a.
  34. U.S. Energy Information Administration. “Colorado State Profile and Energy Estimates.” Accessed October 12, 2020. https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=CO#tabs-1.
  35. U.S. Energy Information Administration. “Cushing, OK WTI Spot Price FOB.” Last modified January 13, 2021. https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/RWTCD.htm.
  36. U.S. Energy Information Administration. “EIA’s Proposed Definitions for Natural Gas Liquids.” Last modified June 14, 2013. https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/workshop/ngl/pdf/definitions061413.pdf.
  37. U.S. Energy Information Administration. “Short-Term Energy Outlook.” Last modified August 11, 2020. https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/report/electricity.php.
John Patrick Boyle is a senior undergraduate cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point and will be commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army upon graduation in May 2021. As a physics major with a focus in photonics, his research has focused on High Energy Lasers and their viability as a weapon to combat hostile unmanned vehicles. He hopes to pursue a graduate degree in mechanical engineering and has a passion for science policy.
 
Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge several individuals for their guidance in writing this policy memo. First, I would like to acknowledge Dr. Michael Pfenning, my Science and Policy professor, for providing critical feedback and support during the writing process. Additionally, I would like to acknowledge my classmates, Cadets T.J. Allen, Jacob Bohnemann, Andrew Constable, Justin Gittemeier, Sean Hallman, Eric Moraly, Riley Roarick, Kalista Schauer, and Abrianna Williams for their support and constructive criticism of this manuscript.
 
Disclaimer
The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not reflect the position of the United States Military Academy, the Department of the Army, or the Department of Defense.
DISCLAIMER: The findings and conclusions published herein are solely attributed to the author and not necessarily endorsed or adopted by the Journal of Science Policy and Governance. Articles are distributed in compliance with copyright and trademark agreements.

ISSN 2372-2193
© 2022 Journal of Science Policy & Governance, Inc. All rights reserved. The opinions, findings and conclusions from JSPG publications, additional article commentaries and related events do not necessarily reflect the views of the journal.