Energy Exchange

Pollution monitors should be standard in LA’s oilfields

There are several reasons to be optimistic about environmental progress in Los Angeles. The city is making massive investments in electric vehicles, making clean energy more accessible to everyday people, and cutting pollution from the ports and freeways to name a few. But with over 60,000 Angelinos living less than 500 feet from an active oil well – LA could do more to protect our health and our environment.

Oil and gas wells emit toxic chemicals that can increase our risk of developing asthma, cancer and other health problems. Recent studies by the California Air Resources Board and South Coast Air Quality Management District have uncovered elevated levels of benzene, a cancer causing agent, and other toxic compounds coming from oil and gas equipment in Huntington Beach and Signal Hill. In Santa Fe Springs  a rupture at an oil site coated numerous homes with oil and generated noxious odors.  Then there are the communities in Culver City, South LA, Compton and elsewhere living mere feet from drill sites who experience odors and health ailments on a regular basis. Most notoriously, the Porter Ranch community next to the Aliso Canyon gas field still reports respiratory problems and other symptoms stemming from a major gas leak in 2015.

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Posted in Air Quality, Aliso Canyon, California, Methane, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

Bringing new pollution-sensing technology to California

Report published December 2017

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California is home to over 50,000 active oil and gas facilities – 3,500 in the Los Angeles area alone. Many are located in close proximity to homes, schools, and hospitals. Emissions from these facilities can create real public health concerns, especially for communities living near oil and gas sites.

A new analysis explains how advancements in air pollution sensing technology could enable California to:

  1. Improve public health protections, and reduce exposures in communities.
  2. Cut pollution and help transition to a cleaner energy future.
  3. Close data gaps and democratize data access related to industry emissions at lower costs and higher resolution than has ever been possible.
  4. EDF’s latest research in monitoring technology demonstrate we have the tools available today that can transform the way we access pollution data tomorrow.

These technological breakthroughs were made possible by the work of bedrock companies and innovation-minded entrepreneurs, and aided in part through EDF partnerships with institutions like Stanford University and programs like the Methane Detectors Challenge. Together, we are helping to propel the sensing revolution and accelerate cost reductions.

Where we’ve been, where we are going

California has a long history and strong track record on air quality monitoring, but real-time data on oil and gas emissions remains practically non-existent. If made widely available, this data could help energize new policies that can reduce pollution.

Fortunately, the recent tech boom has made pollution sensing technology more accessible than ever before — meaning we can start to deploy continuous air monitors at oil and gas sites to collect emissions data 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – data can also inform health research and public policy.

EDF’s recommendations for air pollution monitoring is based on a technical analysis by Ramboll Environ that details the vast growth of technology and characterizes costs and capabilities of the best suited stationary monitors on the market today.

A select number of facilities have already started implementing these technologies. But if air monitors are installed at facilities statewide and pollution data is made publicly available, it could significantly improve quality of life for communities living near the oilfields. This EDF report identifies a framework of recommendations aimed at ensuring state-wide deployment of this new wave of technology.

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Posted in California / Comments are closed

NASA helped locate over 300 methane hot spots across California

Last week the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and California Energy Commission (CEC) released interim results from a NASA study that offers the most clear-eyed assessment yet of California’s largest individual sources of methane pollution.

Methane – a potent greenhouse gas responsible for about a quarter of global warming – is emitted from several different sources, including refineries, landfills, dairy farms, and oil and gas facilities. This new study identifies 329 of the largest pollution sources and offers insights to policy makers about opportunities for reducing these emissions.

Here are four key takeaways from the latest research.

California must focus on super emitters to cut pollution

Previous studies in other regions have shown that when it comes to methane, a small set of high-emitting sites, known as “super emitters” tend to be responsible for a significant amount of total emissions. The new CARB study suggests the same is likely occurring in California (measurements of actual amounts of the methane will be released in the second phase of the project next year).  Many times these super emitters occur randomly, such as when a major piece of equipment breaks and releases a large amount of pollution. Other times, as this study shows, these sites can be landfills, dairy farms, and refineries that simply release a lot of pollution.  Read More »

Posted in Air Quality, California, Methane, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

Californians benefit from continuous pollution monitoring at oil and gas sites

Sophia Brewer, Oil and Gas Intern, contributed to this article.

Since the 1892 discovery of oil in California, the oil and gas industry has been a major economic engine and energy supplier for the state. Although this oil and gas production may be broken down into dollars and barrels, it doesn’t tell the story of the potential impact of drilling activity on the lives of the people in Los Angeles and the Central Valley who live right next to these operations.

While some production sites may be meeting stringent operational and environmental standards, others may not –there simply isn’t data to discern which is which – and that is where monitoring comes in. Read More »

Posted in Air Quality, California, Methane, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

Whether it’s safe or not, do we need Aliso Canyon?

In early 2016, southern California awoke to the harsh reality that reliable operation of the regional energy system might be tied to a single aging natural gas storage field called Aliso Canyon, where a catastrophic blowout that started the previous October was not closed until February. So while Southern California Gas Company got to work to repair the facility, several government and private institutions also went to work assessing whether the facility was actually needed in the first place.

Last week multiple state agencies issued a verdict that Aliso Canyon is now safe, and giving the green light to increase the gas stored in it on a limited basis. The decision caused an outcry from nearby residents, but it should also be a concern for utility customers throughout the region.

But what if we don’t need the facility at all? Why take the risk? The latest analysis strongly suggests we don’t have to. Read More »

Posted in Aliso Canyon, Methane, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

States to Trump: We’re not backing down on climate, clean air

Last week the California Air Resources Board unanimously voted to finalize new regulations to reduce oil and gas methane emissions. This is the first major environmental regulation that has been issued since the new Administration took office, and sends a clear message that states aren’t going to take the new administrations attacks on the environment lying down.

Every signal from the Trump Administration – from pledging to kill the Clean Power Plan, to the recent executive orders that order EPA to begin reversing important climate protections, to the massive proposed budget cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency– indicate that the United States government is keen to undo some of the fundamental environmental protections that are critical to our health and prosperity. And yet, through these signals, California is moving forward with sensible policies that will hold oil and gas companies accountable for their operations, and their pollution. Read More »

Posted in Air Quality, California, Climate, Methane, Natural Gas / Comments are closed