The Center for American Progress recently released a report documenting some of the worst polluters in the gas and oil sector, and we who live in the San Juan Basin have reason to be concerned. ConocoPhillips, one of the biggest operators of oil and gas facilities in our area, topped the list of companies leaking methane in the onshore gas production sector. And whenever methane, the primary component of natural gas, is leaked from equipment, a host of other co-pollutants are also emitted into our air. These include the known carcinogen benzene and other volatile organic compounds that exacerbate respiratory illness and can increase the risk of birth complications
Not only is the report an indictment of ConocoPhillips as a top polluter, but the San Juan Basin across the board proved to have the highest methane emissions per well in the entire country. How can the industry call itself a good neighbor if it lets methane leak from its wells at higher rates than any other gas producing area?
We should be concerned about what this means for our families’ health. And we should hold companies accountable to the neighbors they claim to care so much about by implementing comprehensive safeguards on methane pollution.
Stacie Slay
La Plata, N.M.
