Photograph: Ted Wood/the GuardianĪ couple of years ago, elevated levels of the carcinogen benzene were detected at Bella Romero school, which is attended by mostly Black and Brown children from low-income households who often experience nosebleeds, irritated eyes and respiratory symptoms. The 24-well oil and gas pad near Bella Romero school in Greeley, Colorado, is creating unsafe air pollution for the students, parents and teachers claim. It also has some of the worst air quality in the country, with emissions from oil and gas operations accounting for 30-40% of locally produced ozone along the Front Range – the eastern plains of the Rockies, where most of the state’s 52,000 active wells ( three-quarters are fracking sites) are located. In recent years, Colorado has been hit by wildfires and floods linked to global heating, and the decline in snowpack on the mountains is fuelling drought and water shortages across the west. However, production has risen exponentially over the past two decades thanks to the fracking boom. Oil and gas have been extracted for more than a century from the Denver-Julesburg basin, which underlies the state’s largest population hubs on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains. In 2019, it accounted for almost two-fifths of the country’s coalbed methane production. “The Permian is one of the hottest hotspots in the world for energy production – and it’s only going to grow,” said Michael Webber, an energy policy expert at the University of Texas.Ĭhart showing projected oil production driven by new lower-48 state projectsĬolorado, a western state with a dramatic landscape of mountains, forests and canyons, is the seventh-largest gas-producing state. Typically, about 400-500 permits are approved each month but elevated oil prices and strong demand have caused an “unprecedented” and “extreme” increase, Rystad says. In March, a record 904 drilling permits were issued for companies operating in the Permian basin, according to the consultancy Rystad Energy. The productivity of new wells in the Permian is expected to hit a record high in 2022, with next year forecast to be a landmark for the US as a whole – a record 12.6m barrels of crude oil pumped each day across the country. Exxon has said it will boost production from the Permian by 100,000 barrels a day this year, while Chevron is upping its output by 60,000 barrels. Yet tens of thousands of oilwells, dredging up more than a third of US oil production, dot the Permian basin and production is about to escalate. Numerous studies have suggested elevated rates of congenital heart defects, childhood leukaemia, asthma, and premature births in neigbourhoods close to fracking sites, while elderly people living near or downwind are more likely to die prematurely. We’re surrounded by them,” said Raquel Venegas, 34, a paralegal whose children attend Bella Romero school, where 11 fracking wells operate 210 metres (686ft) from the playground.Ĭompared with traditional drilling, fracking is linked to higher levels of exposure to toxic air pollutants and poor water quality, as well as unhealthy noise and light pollution. “Wells are like trees here, it’s normal to see one on every block. Photograph: Ted Wood/the GuardianĬolorado is the country’s fifth-largest oil producer, with 90% coming from just one county: Weld, where the lack of federal regulation has led to the rapid spread of fracking wells in residential areas close to homes, schools, hospitals, and shopping malls. Residents of neighbourhoods in Weld county, such as this one in Dacono, live among oil and gas operations.
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