Two ozone warnings early this week have oil and gas industry officials on the defensive about a plan to add thousands more wells to the Pinedale Anticline.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce tougher ozone standards today that, when surpassed, could trigger EPA enforcement actions.

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality issued an ozone warning Monday and Tuesday for Sublette County residents, citing pollution levels and weather conditions that could cause respiratory problems for children, older residents and people with respiratory illnesses.

The DEQ issued a similar warning in late February. In early February, officials detected ozone levels of 122 parts per billion in Boulder. State officials say the general public should avoid strenuous or extended outdoor activity when levels surpass 105 parts per billion. DEQ officials say the increased ozone levels are due, at least in part, to oil and gas drilling on the Pinedale Anticline and the Jonah Field.

In mid-February, the EPA strongly criticized the plan for more wells on the Pinedale Anticline, citing deficiencies in the analysis of the effects of development on air quality and groundwater.

In a letter Feb. 14, EPA regional administrator Robert E. Roberts gave a revised draft environmental impact statement on the proposal a rating of “3,” or “environmentally unsatisfactory-inadequate information,” which he said “indicates EPA’s belief that the draft EIS is not adequate for purposes of our ... review, and thus, should be formally revised and made available for public comment in a supplemental or revised draft EIS.”

Jim Sewell, an environmental project manager for Shell, defended the plan to add 4,399 wells on the anticline, saying that even with the new wells, energy companies would seek to reduce emissions from 2005 levels by roughly 80 percent. There are currently about 500 wells on the anticline.

“We’ve supported Wyoming DEQ in their study of ozone formation out there,” he said. “We feel that they need to understand, and we need to understand, what is causing ozone formation up there.”

“If you look at our proposal, it does ... get at the precursors for ozone formation,” Sewell said.

He said people are under the mistaken impression that more drilling activity means more emissions.

“What we’re proposing is a substantial drop in emissions from our drill rigs,” he said.

In addition to cleaner engines on drill rigs, Sewell said, energy companies would install a “liquids gathering system” that allows the collection of gas by-products through pipelines rather than trucks.

“That will get rid of truck traffic on the field roads,” he said.

Sewell: Companies cut back

In response to the ozone warnings, Sewell said energy companies have directed their employees to limit some pollution-causing activities but they did not halt drilling operations.

Andrew Bremner, director of government affairs for the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States, said the industry limited “unnecessary activities.”   

“We are looking for ways to further lessen our emissions during this time,” he said in an e-mail. “In the field, we are currently using advanced technologies to reduce emissions from drill rigs and are increasing our monitoring of emissions.”

Bremner blamed the weather for the ozone spikes, saying the level of activity on the gas fields is the same as last year when no spikes occurred. Further, he said similar ozone warnings happen in places with similar weather conditions that don’t have oil and gas drilling.

Jared White, spokesmen for The Wilderness Society, said the Environmental Protection Agency will likely lower its ozone standard from 80 parts per billion to 75 parts per billion in an announcement today. White said scientists and doctors advocated for a standard of between 60 and 70 parts per billion.

Addressing public health

Bruce Hayse, a family physician based in Jackson, said he is worried about his patients from Sublette County.

“It’s a horrible public health problem, and there’s been more and more evidence in the past few years showing the detrimental effects of ozone,” he said, citing increased incidence of cardiac events and lung problems, as well as a shortened life expectancy for smokers and people with emphysema.

“For anybody that has had any problems with their immune system,” he said, “ozone makes it difficult to fight off pulmonary infections.”

Hayse also said Sublette County’s high altitude only exacerbates the problem.

“If you’re up at 7,000 feet, your oxygen level is already diminished,” he said. “Unfortunately, [oxygen] is one thing we don’t do very well without.”

“Ozone is a poison,” Hayse said. “It’s a pretty toxic chemical.”

Upper Green River Valley Coalition organizer Linda Baker called the new ozone warnings “alarming” and called on the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality to take a lead role in forcing the industry to reduce emissions.

“That is the agency that has the responsibility to protect our health,” she said. “[Drilling] has got to slow down and the DEQ has the authority to do that. This is a consequence of their inaction.”

Officials say strong temperature inversions, low winds, snow cover and bright sunlight facilitate the chemical reaction that turns pollutants like nitrogen oxides and volatile organic chemicals into ozone in Sublette County.