Toxins from Compressor Emissions Show up in Blood Tests

Compressor station on Federal Road in Erin, NY (Chemung County).

 When Calvin Tillman, mayor of Dish, Texas came to visit upstate New York in February, he talked about the air quality issues facing his small town. Dish is in the heart of the Barnett shale and at the crossroads where 11 high pressure natural gas pipelines converge. Five energy companies have installed a dozen compressors and associated gas treatment facilities; there are four gas metering stations in town and 18 gas wells within the corporate limits. Another 50-plus gas wells are located immediately beyond the town’s limits.

The problem, he said, is that toxic emissions from the compressors are causing health problems for residents in town. Finally the Texas State Dept. of Health took heed and, in January, they took blood and urine samples from 28 people in the little town. Today, Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe reports in the Denton-Record Chronicle that the same pollutants found in the air are also found in residents' bodies.

The health department found toluene, butadiene, and N,N-dimethylformamide in the samples. All three compounds are among 187 airborne toxic substances that the Environmental Protection Agency is supposed to monitor, notes Heinkel-Wolfe. According to studies compiled by the US Dept. of Health and Human Services, dimethylformamide can cause liver damage, butadiene can cause cancer and toluene can affect the nervous system and the kidneys.

But while everyone has been focusing on the pollutants in the air, they've been overlooking the water contamination. Last August researchers found ethylbenzene and styrene air samples. Now the state health investigators have found both ethylbenzene and styrene in private drinking water wells.

While it's true that upstate NY don't have a 30-acre site with a dozen compressors like Dish has - at least not yet - we do have compressor stations scattered throughout our countryside. Near me, there is a compressor station up on Cooper Hill in Van Etten and another one on Federal Road in Erin (article, post). Both are located in rural areas, surrounded by fields, forest and the occasional house. But, says the Erin code enforcement officer John Mccracken, more will come with development of Marcellus shale. There are about 20 drilling applications for Erin (no permits yet) and Mccracken estimates that Erin might see another five compressor stations.

There's lots of evidence that urban air pollution harms human health. It's been harder for rural people to show that industrial activities harm their health. But now it looks like the evidence is finally showing up. The lesson NY needs to glean: Permits need to take into account the cumulative air quality, not just the individual station. Oh, and along with those noise-baffling walls, require the energy companies to install compressors with up-to-date vapor-capture technologies that result in negligible emissions.

Tillman Thanks New York & PA

Last week Calvin Tillman, mayor of DISH, Texas spent a week of his February vacation in the snowy hills of the Southern Tier of NY and the Northern Tier of PA - Marcellus Country. He sent this thank you letter to all those folks he met:

Subject:	My new friends in the Marcellus.
Date:	Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:20:07 -0500
From:	tillman4council@aol.com

As I return from almost a full week touring the Marcellus, I reflect on all the people I met for the first time.  Many of these people had spoke via phone or email with me on several occasions; however, most had never met me in person.  These folks welcomed me into their homes as though I was a lifelong friend or family member, not a complete stranger, who lived thousands of miles away.  I was impressed with the genuine values that my new friends possessed.  I could not begin to try to thank everyone individually, so I will just say thank you to everyone I met on this trip.

Although I was invited, and a few worked extremely hard coordinating my packed schedule, this really was a vacation for me.  My new friends just gave me a reason to see this new land, like I had not seen it before.  It had been burning inside of me to see how other gas shale plays were being accepted, and if the companies acted better there than they did here in DISH, TX.  Although, I spoke at a dozen events during this tour, meeting new people and sharing their experiences was the real joy. 

It was purely amazing at how many people traveled across snow-packed roads, and got up early on Saturday morning to let me share our story.  Also, there were dozens of public officials who opened their minds to listen to me speak.  During five days of speaking, almost 2,000 people came to hear the story of DISH, TX.  What further amazed me was that no matter where the event, the seats were full.  Whether, the church in Oneonta, school in Downsville, or the movie theater in Elmira, the seats were pretty much full, all the way until my last talk in Callicoon, that was standing room only.  It amazes me, that this many people came to share our stories.  The crowds continued to grow, and I reached almost 1,000 people on Saturday alone.  What was even more amazing was that even those who did not share my views were respectful and courteous.  Some of my friends in the industry had went to great lengths to create a hostile environment for me in the Marcellus, and that simple did not happen.  Even those who asked the hard questions, which I welcomed, were respectful. 

I was further impressed by the convictions of my new friends to their cause.  Many had turned down the opportunity for vast fortunes, and chose not to climb into to bed with the energy company landman.  When approached with these prospects, they simply said "no".  I am not sure that I have ever met such a large group of unselfish people in my life.  Willing to forgo money to hang on to their way of life.  I am not sure how to describe the respect I now have for my new friends. 

My main purpose for this trip was to let people know that there was more to natural gas exploration than a signing bonus, and a monthly royalty check.  It had been my hope to allow folks to make a decision with their eyes wide open, not their eyes wide shut.  I think there were many that began to think about this for the first time after listening to the story of the town that was sacrificed for the good of the shale.  There are some that will never listen, and only look for the one thing that can give them a reason to say "it won't happen here".  For those, it would not have mattered what I would have said, their minds would not be clouded with the facts, it was already made up.

Another reason for wanting to take this tour, was to see for my own eyes how others were being affected by the shale boom.  I have been trying to get stricter regulations here in TX and urged my new friends in the Marcellus to pursue the same.  If this extraction of natural gas is going to take place, it must be tightly regulated.  However, some of my new friends don't believe that it is possible to perform this safely, even with the tightest regulations.  After visiting Dimock, PA, it was hard to argue with their logic.  I got to meet the lady whose water well exploded, and tears filled my eyes when I heard the story told by another lady whose children would get sick after drinking the water from their once clean water well.  I saw the tainted water from another poisoned well, and frankly, was not prepared for the emotions felt when we delivered fresh water to a family that had been refused this right by the drilling company.  Some were getting water delivered by the company who poisoned the water, but a few were denied one of the simple rights that we should all expect as hard working Americans.  Cabot Oil and Gas, has essentially turned this small neighborhood into a third world country, and won't even show those they are poisoning the courtesy of delivering water to them.  These families would have surely been better off, if the shale had passed them by.

In DISH we have dealt with the air toxins, but unfortunately we have not given the water much thought.  There certainly have been issues with water here in the Barnett Shale, but nothing like water wells exploding.  However, that does not mean that we do not have water quality issues, it just means we don't know it if we do.  No one knew six months ago that we had toxic levels of chemicals in the air surrounding several natural gas wells and production facilities, and therefore, we should think about our water here as well.  This trip made me think about issues that I not previously thought about, and that was the greatest gift I received.      

I have never been to a place where I received such a warm reception, and on some days I was passed through several people.  By the end of the week, you would have thought, I had lived there my entire life.  I even got to see the local hero Josh Fox, who put me in his now famous documentary GasLand.  Some even went as far as to declare that I had been adopted as their own mayor.  And though I missed my family something terrible, I was saddened to have to leave such a clean and beautiful place, and return to the dirty ole town.  I can now see why my new friends want to maintain their clean air and clean water, and I hope to help them do it.  I am glad to announce that I will be returning to the Marcellus Shale in April, to complete my tour, and see my new friends again.  Thanks again for accepting that crazy mayor from Texas into you homes and lives.  I hope it was a good for you as it was for me.  Please post this on your blogs or pass on to your mailing groups.   
 

Calvin Tillman
Mayor, DISH, TX
(940) 453-3640 

Survey shows link between shale gas and health impacts

Today, public interest groups and the Town of DISH released the final results of a health survey of area residents focused on the impacts of Barnett Shale gas infrastructure. According to the results, over half of the health complaints can be attributed to toxics first revealed in September in a DISH-commissioned study of area air quality. Now the residents in DISH, along with Earthworks and the Texas Oil & Gas Accountability Project, are asking state regulators to take action. They want the state to perform an in-depth health investigation, implement continuous 24-hour emissions monitoring, and establish a same-day community odor and symptom tracking system.

Earthworks launched the health survey in September, after Wolf Eagle Environmental and the Town of DISH released air-sampling results showing that neurotoxins and carcinogens exceeded the state regulatory limits. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality promised to do their own air sampling and should release a report later this month. And the Dept. of Health Services plans a health investigation in 2010 to analyze oil and gas impacts. You can read more here.