Community-Centered
Air Quality Monitoring

We are partnering with communities to monitor local air quality as part of a Colorado State University (CSU) graduate student course in the Department of Atmospheric Science (ATS 716 Air Quality Characterization). 

This work is motivated by the growing interest in understanding how oil and gas operations in northern Colorado impact local air quality. Over the past decade, improvements in drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques have made oil and gas resources more accessible.  As a result, oil and gas operations along Colorado’s Front Range have increased substantially. By 2020, Colorado was the fifth largest oil producing state in the U.S. and the seventh largest producer of natural gas.

Oil and gas operations emit air toxics, also known as hazardous air pollutants, and a wide range of other volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Many of these pollutants have been linked to increased risk of cancer, poor birth outcomes, and other serious adverse health effects. VOCs are also important ingredients for the formation of ozone, which is a well-known respiratory irritant that causes chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath, and throat irritation. The Colorado Front Range is a nonattainment area for ozone, meaning that ozone concentrations exceed national ambient air quality standards. Research shows the association between a person's proximity to oil and gas operations and negative physical and mental health impacts due to direct exposure to emissions and chronic stress.

While there are many communities in Colorado that reside near active oil and gas operations, there is disproportion exposure of several groups to oil and gas emissions, and this raises environmental justice concerns. These groups include:

• Historically marginalized communities (e.g., people of color, low income households)

• People with high risk health conditions (e.g., respiratory disease, heart disease, pregnancy)

• People who work on oil and gas well pads

This project is supported through the Monfort Professors Program. This is a generous grant to Colorado State University from the Monfort Family Foundation established to help the university enhance its faculty by recruiting and retaining talented faculty members.