RIFLE — A comprehensive review of medical data for Garfield County residents doesn’t show a health crisis, a researcher says.
However, there are some trends that might be worth watching, possibly related to worsening air quality, and the energy industry should consider taking some steps to help protect public health, said Teresa Coons, senior scientist at the Saccomanno Research Institute in Grand Junction.
The study was conducted in response to concerns about possible health effects related to natural gas development in the county. Researchers compared health statistics to numbers for Delta, Mesa and Montrose counties, which have far less oil and gas development.
“People in Garfield County generally speaking are not that different from people in the other three counties” in terms of their health, Coons said in an interview.
Coons and other researchers also presented the study’s findings in a meeting in Rifle Tuesday night.
Coons said the county probably is experiencing an increase in respiratory problems, possibly in part as a result of deteriorating air quality. Whether the energy industry is contributing to the increase is unclear, Coons said.
No air quality measurements in the county exceed federal Environmental Protection Agency standards. But some components, like cancer-causing benzene, are “high enough to at least raise our eyebrows a little bit,” Coons said.
Raj Goyal, a toxicologist for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said research showed a potential for both cancer and non-cancer benzene hazards across the area of oil and gas development.
Russ Walker, professor of environmental science at Mesa State College, is recommending that industry take measures that include doing so-called “green completions” of wells to eliminate release of excess gas, and of gas components such as benzene.
Coons said the study showed that cancer rates in the county aren’t different from rates in nearby counties. But cancer can take decades to show up after exposure to carcinogens, and most area energy development has been more recent.
Walker said if drilling occurred near him, “If the cancer risks were greater than 100 in a million, I’d think seriously about whether or not I wanted to continue living there,” he said.
The EPA says the highest acceptable cancer risk for benzene exposure is 100 in a million. That exposure level was slightly exceeded at an air quality monitoring site on Grass Mesa, a heavily drilled area south of Rifle.
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E-mail Dennis Webb at dwebb@gjds.com.
