WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold three public hearings in September on the agency’s proposed standards to reduce air pollution from oil and gas drilling operations. The proposed standards would rely on cost-effective, existing technologies and practices to reduce pollution that contributes to smog and can cause cancer, while supporting the administration’s priority of continuing to expand safe and responsible domestic oil and natural gas production.
WHAT: Public hearings on proposed air pollution standards for the oil and natural gas industry
WHEN: Sept. 27, 28 and 29, 2011
Each hearing will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until 8 p.m. (local time)
WHERE: Sept. 27: Pittsburgh
David L. Lawrence Convention Center
Rooms 315-316
1000 Ft. Duquesne Blvd.
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222
Sept. 28: Denver
Colorado Convention Center
Room 207
700 14th St.
Denver, Colo. 80202
Sept. 29: Arlington, Texas
Arlington Municipal Building
City Council Chambers
101 W. Abram St.
Arlington, Texas 76010
To register to speak at a specific time at any of the hearings, please contact Joan C. Rogers at 919-541-4487 or rogers.joanc@epa.gov. People also may sign up to speak in person on the day of a hearing; however, they may not be given their preferred time slot to speak. EPA must issue a final rule by Feb. 28, 2012.
----------------------------------------
While EPA considers a risk level of 90 in 1 million to be acceptable, the agency is proposing changes to this standard that would lower the risk level to 20 in 1 million. What a nice way to dilute the issue...
Dividing 90 deaths into one million equals one death per 11,111 people in a population.
Therefore, the risk FOR CANCER ONLY, is guaranteed to be 1 in 11,111. The EPA says that is acceptable. Now are they also considering the well density of an area parallel with its population?
Consider an area like Weld County, Colorado which has an estimated 18 - 20,000 active oil and gas wells and a population of 268,000 citizens, which equates to 15 active oil and gas wells per citizen! That's a staggering proposition. In order to estimate the death ratio per a set population, we'd have to understand the estimated amount of toxic chemicals emitted per well on average and use the EPA's formula.
What if the death ratio was 1 in 5,000? That would equate to roughly 54 people dead from cancer caused from toxic emissions in the air. Would this be an annual event? Does anyone think an industry should be unregulated under the Clean Air Act?
please comment
No comments:
Post a Comment
WTFrack.org is a medium for concerned citizens to express their opinions in regards to 'Fracking.' We are Representatives of Democracy. We are Fractivists. We are you.