Pollution High Across Region

Albuquerque Journal

October 7, 2003

by Adam Rankin

Researchers report that fossil fuel emissions from oil and gas facilities in the Southwest, including New Mexico, create regional air pollution comparable to the largest urban centers elsewhere in the United States.

The study shows elevated levels of hydrocarbons, such as ethane, methane and butane, are centered over San Juan County in the north of the state and the Permian Basin in the southeast corner. Both areas are hot spots for natural gas and oil production.

The results are reported by scientists at the University of California at Irvine in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"It is interesting because these are higher levels of ethane than we've seen in any city samples we've taken," said Donald Blake, a UC-Irvine researcher who oversaw the study with colleague Sherwood Rowland.

Hydrocarbon compounds are chemical precursors to ozone, which is the main ingredient of smog and can lead to respiratory ailments, such as asthma. Methane, which has a lifespan of about eight years before it breaks down, is also a powerful greenhouse gas, holding heat in the atmosphere about 20 times more efficiently than carbon dioxide.

The study comes at a time when the New Mexico Environment Department is working with San Juan County, the oil and gas industry, environmental groups and others to catalog sources of smog in the San Juan Basin near Farmington. The region produces more than $160 million a year in oil and gas royalties for the state.

NMED's Mary Uhl said the inventory along with recommendations that might be effective at controlling emissions will be complete some time in January or February.

She said she was surprised to see how high the emissions are in the area and concerned because the Bureau of Land Management plans to develop about 10,000 new wells in the basin.

"Each (oil or gas) well or compressor by itself would require a permit, but when you get thousands of these in an area the emissions are quite large," she said.

Because the region is close to exceeding federal ozone limits, the state, federal Environmental Protection Agency and local governments of San Juan County, Aztec, Farmington and Bloomfield signed an agreement in December to identify pollution sources and ways to keep emissions from exceeding federal standards.

Once the region exceeds National Ambient Air Quality Standards, all development that produces emissions must be heavily curtailed, potentially impinging on the region's oil-and gas- dependent economy.

Rowland, who won the 1995 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work on ozone, said New Mexico's hydrocarbon emissions are high, but not as high as other Southwestern states.

He said the highest hydrocarbon concentrations reported in the study came out of Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas during a 2002 survey, which encompassed a 1,000-mile diameter swath centered on Oklahoma City. For example, the highest levels of ethane -- at 20 parts per billion by volume of air sampled-- were reported near McAlester, Okla, he said.

"The highest value in the San Juan Basin was seven parts per billion (ppbv)," he said. "For comparison, in other parts of New Mexico the unpolluted values were around 0.6 ppbv, so the concentrations are clearly far above what drifts in from Arizona and points west."

He said ethane concentrations in New Mexico's portion of the Permian Basin, near Hobbs, is about 3.3 ppbv, "much less than for West Texas, but still well above background."

Bob Gallagher, president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, said air quality and pollution emissions are major industry concerns, which is why the association is helping the state and EPA inventory sources in San Juan County.

"Are we overly concerned, do we think there is a problem or an unknown source of emissions or a problem that can't be solved? No," he said. When it comes to healthy air, he said, "we have the same concerns as everyone else."

Blake said the researchers can't say for sure how much of the hydrocarbon pollution is from naturally occurring fissures or from leaky oil and gas facilities, such as pipelines, compressor stations and field tanks.

Through they measured elevated hydrocarbons downwind of oil and gas pump jacks, Blake said a good follow-up study would measure possible natural sources to identify the major sources.

"What we hope is that this study will lead the oil and gas industry to at least look into this -- is there a way to reduce emissions?" Blake said. "There maybe nothing that can be done, but at least it points out that there may be a bigger problem than they once thought."