Colorado can cut more pollution from oil and gas operations

Colorado has taken important steps in recent years to clean up the air pollution that is harming our health and quality of life. As recent poor air quality shows, it’s now time to take additional steps to cut air pollution from as many sources as possible so we can make our air safer to breathe.

What’s the problem?

Ozone is our primary air pollution problem in Colorado, and it’s bad for our health. Rather than being emitted directly, ground-level ozone is formed when nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) combine chemically in the presence of sunlight; these reactions occur more quickly at higher temperatures. NOx and VOCs come from a variety of sources in our state such as the oil & gas sector, tailpipe emissions from the cars and trucks we drive, industrial sources and gas-powered lawn and garden equipment. 

Breathing high levels of ozone can cause harmful health effects including lung damage, worsening of existing respiratory conditions such as asthma, and cardiovascular disease. A 2016 study even found that long-term exposure to elevated levels of ozone – such as those we experience in our region – is associated with decreased life expectancy. 

In recent years, the Denver Metro/North Front Range (DM/NFR) Ozone Nonattainment region – roughly from Castle Rock up to Fort Collins and Greeley – has suffered from some of the highest ozone pollution in the country. According to the American Lung Association’s most recent State of the Air report, three counties in the region – Jefferson, Douglas and Arapahoe – rank among the top 20 most polluted counties in the nation for ozone levels. 

What can we do about it?

To protect our health, we need to get ozone concentrations in our air down from unsafe levels as quickly as possible – below the Clean Air Act standard of 70 parts per billion (ppb). Of course our best chance for doing this is to reduce the amount of NOx and VOCs entering our air.

Colorado’s Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC) is currently developing control measures for oil & gas operations. Specifically, the new measures would reduce emissions from “pneumatic controllers” as well as address episodic emissions during “venting and blowdowns.” Think of pneumatic controllers sort of like release valves that keep the pressure of liquids or gases within oil & gas equipment from building up to dangerous levels. “Venting and blowdowns” refers to the intentional release of gases into the air to relieve pressure in the system as needed or in preparation for something like maintenance work. The thing is, technology now exists that makes these intentional, preventable releases of harmful pollution into our air unnecessary. There’s a better way.

We should require a retrofit of 100% of existing gas pneumatic controllers statewide by 2028 at the latest, starting with a phase-in in 2025. We should also limit VOC emissions during blowdown events at operations in the Ozone Nonattainment Area from May through September, when ozone concentrations frequently rise to unhealthy levels; controlling these VOC emissions and routing them to a primary purpose as opposed to simply releasing them uncontrolled into our air just makes sense. This is what the newly developed policies entail.

When we are already in severe violation of the Clean Air Act, we should no longer tolerate intentional, preventable releases of ozone-forming pollution into our air – particularly on days when ozone levels are expected to spike – and these two categories stand out as some of the biggest examples of such releases.

How big a difference could these new policies make?

RAQC’s analysis that passing and implementing the new policies can cut 11 tons per day of VOC emissions is impressive and suggests that these two control measures combined can give our region a shot at reaching compliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone during the critical 2024-26 time frame.

Soon, the policies will head to the state’s Air Pollution Control Division for consideration, where we urge their full adoption.

It’s time to take the next steps to cut harmful pollution and clean up our air – our health and quality of life depend on it.