If I were to ask you how close a well could be drilled to your home without sacrificing the health and safety of your family, what would you say? According to a recent Daily Times article, two environmental organizations, Earthworks and FracTracker Alliance, have answered that question for you. With absolutely no scientific basis whatsoever, they reached deep in their underwear and pulled out the answer, loudly declaring that anyone “living within a half mile of a wellsite is at risk of developing cancer, respiratory illness, neurological problems, and other ailments.” Yikes! If that were true, then 80 percent of San Juan County residents are at risk. Before you freak out, let me calm your nerves with the truth of the matter.
Fracking - There is a never ending insinuation that fracking threatens water supplies. But a frack only goes a few hundred feet from the wellbore, and cannot physically grow through more than a mile of rock into groundwater. The Heartland Institute documented 21 independent studies that that provided proof of that physical fact. This conclusion is substantiated in 2015 when Obama’s EPA found that “fracking poses no direct threat to drinking water.”
Air Emissions - The new Methane Rules in New Mexico are some of the most stringent in the country in terms of reducing emissions. However, there are always going to be some minor emissions from the development of oil and gas, primarily methane from the well and primarily CO2 from any engines on site. But humans also emit CO2 from one end and methane from the other, and the wrath of your spouse notwithstanding, neither are hazardous to your health.
Again, there are facts to prove it. When the Barnett Shale started the shale revolution in the early 2000’s, Fort Worth, Texas was the epicenter. The city worked with the EPA to commission the “Fort Worth Natural Gas Air Quality Study” to help them make setback rules based on science versus by environmental innuendo. During the study, over 15,000 air samples were taken in and around various oil and gas facilities. None, I repeat, NONE were above safe breathing standards. As a result, Fort Worth approved a minimum setback of 300 feet.
Health Numbers - If the environmental organizations had any basis to their claims, you would expect that the respiratory disease and cancer rates in San Juan County would exceed the national average. But according to the Cancer.Gov website, San Juan County is 10% below the national average in cancer deaths per capita, and 35% below the national average in lung and bronchus deaths. Finally, Farmington was named by the World Health Organization as having some of the cleanest air in the country.
The bottom line is that nobody living near a wellsite in the San Juan Basin is endangering the health of their family. So don’t let the environmentalists suck you into their alarm. Relax and breathe easy!