Regional
(2010-08-03)
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DENVER, CO
(KUNC) -
Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency are getting an earful from the public at a meeting in Denver today as part of a court-ordered view of air quality regulations for oil and gas drilling.
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During a several hour long meeting at a Denver Holiday Inn, EPA officials heard several stories from residents like Kim Weber who have been living amidst the drilling.
A few years ago, at the height of the oil and gas boom on the western slope, Weber says her son's health took a turn for the worse. His asthma became aggravated and other respiratory problems persisted. Blaming the oil and gas waste facility near her home in DeBeque, she sent him on vacation.
"After being in Texas for just a few weeks, or days, actually, he started feeling better," she says.
Weber, who's now with the environmental group, Western Colorado Congress, adds that her son's problems are not unique in DeBeque.
"Although there is no documented evidence that the emitted toxins are causing these health problems, it is suspicious that so many symptoms and issues have developed in the same time and space."
EPA is considering toughening air pollution standards for oil and gas drilling and production operations across the US. And officials are working under a tight court-ordered deadline. Two environmental groups successfully sued the agency last year saying the current standards are outdated. EPA has agreed to propose updates to several sets of pollution rules by this coming January.
Some industry leaders like Kathleen Sgamma worry those changes could bring an extra layer of what they consider to be unnecessary regulation.
"Certainly it makes sense to comply with the law, and to review those regulations. But the outcome should not necessarily be lots of additional, onerous regulation," says Sgamma, Director of Government Affairs for the Denver-based Western Energy Alliance.
The EPA's hearings in Texas and Denver this week come as the agency is also studying the effects hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is having on ground water. © Copyright 2012, KUNC
