Drawing the Connections: Energy and Health
Exploring potential community exposures to chemical emissions and noise from oil and gas development across the United States.
How to Use this Story Map
approximate reading time: ~10-15 minutes
This story map provides an overview of current research funded by the Health Effects Institute Energy (HEI Energy) to improve understanding of how U.S. communities may be exposed to chemical emissions and noise from unconventional oil and gas development (commonly referred to as "fracking"). It is a way to learn about the research and understand how the research findings might be used to inform decisions that protect health. You can follow progress with individual studies here .
Cover Image: Photograph of oil and gas development in New Mexico, provided by Donna Vorhees, May 2023
Energy & Health
Image: An oil and gas well pad photographed in Loving, New Mexico, provided by Gunnar Schade, 2023.
Unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD) refers to the development and production of oil and natural gas starting around the beginning of the 21st century through hydraulic fracturing in horizontal wells (left side of the illustration), which differs from conventional vertical wells (right side) ( HEI Energy, 2020 ). Typically, horizontal wells in UOGD target "tight" formations where oil and gas are sealed into rock, such as shale plays and sedimentary basins ( Norris et al. 2016 ; Payne Institute for Public Policy, 2023 ).
Image: Illustration created by William Kappel, U.S. Geological Survey.
UOGD production has increased over time ( EIA, 2023 )
UOGD emits greenhouse gases ( EIA, 2023 ) and other chemicals to air, can result in chemical releases to water, and elsewhere in the environment, and generates noise, all of which may pose health risks to communities exposed to them ( HEI Energy, 2021 ). More information on this can be found in HEI Energy's Spatial Bibliography.
Image: A flare from the Eagle Ford Shale region in Texas, provided by Gunnar Schade, 2015.
Various groups such as state agencies, community organizations, oil and gas operators, and nonprofits have made efforts to manage the potential health risks posed by UOGD. For example, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's website resources (as pictured) provide health guidance and a means for community members to report concerns ( CDPHE ).
Additionally, many scientific studies have evaluated potential associations between UOGD and human health, which you can learn more about through HEI Energy's database (linked below).
Understanding how people might be exposed to chemical releases and noise from UOGD, the sources of the releases, and whether exposures rise to levels of concern for health can inform decisions that protect human health.
HEI Energy is funding a program of community exposure research to help provide this understanding.
Image: Mobile monitoring van from Dr. Hildebrandt-Ruiz's team co-located with Dr. Franklin's stationary monitoring site in New Mexico, photograph provided by Daniel Sung, 2024.
HEI Energy
HEI Energy provides impartial science about potential community exposures and health effects from energy production in the United States, with an initial focus on UOGD.
An infographic explaining HEI Energy's research process (HEI Energy)
Potential Community Exposures Under Investigation ( HEI Energy )
HEI Energy is currently funding nine studies to better understand community exposures associated with UOGD: three investigating exposures to UOGD-related releases that affect groundwater or surface water, three investigating air quality trends related to UOGD releases, and three investigating exposures to UOGD-related air emissions and noise. The three air quality studies form the Tracking Community Exposures and Releases (TRACER) Collaboration.
HEI Energy posts quarterly updates on each study's progress.
The TRACER Collaboration
Three teams are collaborating on research to better understand community exposures to air emissions and noise from UOGD in the Denver-Julesburg Basin (Colorado), the Eagle Ford Shale (Texas), the Permian Basin (New Mexico), and the Marcellus Shale (Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia).
The teams host periodic Community Open Houses and other public events to discuss their work with local communities, regional government officials, industry representatives, and others interested in the research.
The TRACER collaboration has two research components:
Modeling
Developing and evaluating the TRACER model to predict the kinds of chemical emissions that will result from specific UOGD processes associated with UOGD and how they affect the quality of air that people breathe.
Measurement
Measuring chemical concentrations in air and noise over the lifespan of a UOGD well to understand how people might be exposed over brief periods (hours to days) and longer periods (months to years). These data will help in understanding potential exposures experienced by people in the study locations and will be used to evaluate the TRACER model.
Why is the TRACER Collaboration important for protecting community health?
By endeavoring to identify links between specific UOGD processes and community exposures, the researchers are helping us to answer four important questions:
- How close is too close to UOGD operations for protecting health?
- How might potential exposures vary among different groups of people within communities affected by UOGD?
- What exposures are people experiencing from chemical emissions and from noise?
- How do specific operations of UOGD contribute to changes in local and regional air quality?
This knowledge can help protect health in a number of ways:
- Identify specific activities and operations that lead to local or regional exposures.
- For any exposures that may be of concern for health, inform how they can be mitigated.
- Assess the efficacy of specific best management practices or governance to reduce UOGD emissions.
- Estimate exposure co-benefits of reducing methane emissions.
This map displays study locations within the shale plays and sedimentary basins in the United States. Below is a tour of the three studies in the TRACER collaboration.
Oil and gas well coordinate data are sourced from the Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Database .
Denver-Julesburg Basin, CO
Led by Jeff Collett, Professor, Colorado State University
The team is assessing how communities in the North Front Range of Colorado might be exposed to air emissions and noise associated with UOGD. They are using a combination of existing air quality data, stationary air quality monitoring, mobile air quality monitoring, and air quality modeling to understand potential exposures. As research continues, the team is engaging with community members.
The mobile monitoring van the research team uses to take measurements of chemicals in the air (photo provided by the research team)
A detector stationed near a well pad in Colorado’s Denver-Julesburg Basin monitoring air quality during drilling operations (photo provided by the research team)
Tour of the mobile monitoring vehicle used to collect air quality data, which was an exhibit at the Community Open House hosted by HEI Energy in Colorado, April 2022
Dr. Jeff Collett's presentation at the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission weekly meeting, August 31, 2022. His talk begins at 1:00:46
Dr. Jeff Collett's interview at the HEI Annual Conference 2023 in Boston
Dr. Jeff Collett's interview at the HEI Annual Conference 2024 in Philadelphia
Permian Basin, NM and Eagle Ford Shale, TX
Led by Meredith Franklin, Associate Professor, University of Toronto
The team is measuring and modeling how communities living near UOGD in New Mexico and Texas can potentially be exposed to noise, chemicals, and radioactivity (NM only) in the air associated with UOGD. They are using a mix of pre-existing air quality data and satellite data for the region, and their own air quality data from collected with stationary and passive monitors. The research has benefited from the work of local community volunteers who assisted with the passive air quality monitoring. As research continues, the team is engaging with community members.
At the Community Open House in Loving, NM in May 2023
At the Community Open House in Loving, NM in May 2023
The mobile monitoring van the research team uses to take measurements of chemicals in the air (photo provided by the research team)
Dr. Meredith Franklin's interview at the HEI Annual Conference 2023 in Boston
Dr. Gunnar Schade's interview at the HEI Annual Conference 2024 in Philadelphia
Eagle Ford Shale, TX
Led by Lea Hildebrandt-Ruiz, Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin
The team is measuring how communities in Texas can potentially be exposed to chemicals in the air from UOGD through both stationary and mobile monitoring efforts and modeling. Developing the TRACER model with these data will help predict the frequency and extent of emissions from specific UOGD processes. As research continues, the team is engaging with community members.
A graph pointing out the peak in pollutant concentration in the air from the flare shown in the middle image, as measured by the mobile monitoring van, (photo provided by the research team)
The mobile monitoring van used to take measurements of chemicals in the air, (photo provided by the research team)
Research team members giving a tour of the mobile monitoring van during a Community Open House in November 2023 in Karnes City, TX, (photo provided by the research team)
The team's mobile air quality monitoring route in Karnes City, TX (photo provided by the research team)
Dr. Lea Hildebrandt-Ruiz's interview at the HEI Annual Conference 2023 in Boston
Dr. Lea Hildebrandt-Ruiz's interview at the HEI Annual Conference 2024 in Philadelphia
Marcellus Shale, OH, PA, WV
Led by Lea Hildebrandt-Ruiz, Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin
The research team expanded its air emissions modeling to the Marcellus Shale region. They will leverage data in the Marcellus region from the separately funded Appalachian Methane Initiative to evaluate the accuracy of the TRACER model they are developing.
Check back soon for more updates on their progress!
Learn more and stay in touch!
For questions or to request further data, please email us at energy@healtheffects.org.
Contributors
This StoryMap was conceived and created by Ayusha Ariana, research assistant. She was supported in this effort by the Energy Research Committee, the Principal Investigators of the TRACER Collaboration, and her HEI colleagues: Amy Andreini, Tom Champoux, Dr. Cloelle Danforth, Gabriela Daza, Hope Green, Samantha Miller, Dr. Pallavi Pant, Dr. Allison Patton, Dr. Anna Rosofsky, Alexis Vaskas, Dr. Donna Vorhees, and Ada Wright.
