Carol Hawkins bought her cozy bungalow in Ault, about 15 miles north of Greeley, in 2017, settling in with her books, family photos and beloved Golden Retriever, Penny. The retired English professor thought she had found the perfect place to live out her days: a cute, yet affordable residential community close to her children and grandchildren.
But as the retired English professor ventured beyond her own little yard, she was startled to see new oil and gas wells springing up all over the countryside. Some less than a mile from her home and even closer to other residential neighborhoods.
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鈥淎cross from the landfill. That was the beginning,鈥� she said, sitting in her living room, where the air filters run 24/7. 鈥淎nd then there was a site going up behind that site. And then another one popped up right in downtown Ault next to the high school.鈥�
She says it felt like an assault.
鈥淚n a blink of an eye, I had over a half dozen wells surrounding me,鈥� she said.
The physical symptoms started during a period of heavy drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the area that started in 2018. She started having bloody noses, intense migraines and high blood pressure. The next year, an MRI revealed she had developed lung nodules.
It鈥檚 impossible to definitively pinpoint the health impacts of oil and gas activity on any individual鈥檚 health outcomes. But of peer-reviewed studies link proximity to fracking operations with a host of medical problems, including several that Hawkins began experiencing after moving to Ault. And she draws a direct line from the fracking wells popping up nearby to the medical issues popping up in her body.
Short of moving, which she says she cannot afford to do, she feels powerless.
鈥淚 mean, if it's being caused by the air I breathe, what am I supposed to do?鈥�
Northern Colorado is ground zero for the state鈥檚 energy and housing development booms. The two uses compete for land, and often end up uncomfortably close, sharing the same air. Many residents and advocates concerned about air quality say residential neighborhoods and oil fields are incompatible and question whether state regulators are doing enough to protect the citizens of Colorado.
Strongest regulatory regime
Colorado鈥檚 oil and gas industry is regulated by a tangle of state agencies, including the Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC), which has authority over permitting and regulates many industry operations. Air emissions are the realm of the Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC), informed by the work of the public health department鈥檚 Air Pollution Control Division (APCD).
In 2019, state legislators passed , which re-oriented Colorado鈥檚 approach to oil and gas development to prioritize the environment and public health and safety and gave regulators more protective authority. And since then, those regulators have been hard at work, adopting strict and specific regulations limiting air pollution from the oil and gas industry which have made the state a global leader in that space.
鈥淭he state of oil and gas regulations in Colorado is that we have the most robust program in the nation and worldwide,鈥� said Stefanie Shoup, director of the Office of Innovation and Planning at the state Air Pollution Control Division (APCD). 鈥淲e're incredibly proud of the work that we've done.鈥�
That work includes several groundbreaking adopted by the Air Quality Control Commission. An puts a check on the ratio of emissions to barrels of oil or gas produced, to prevent out-sized emissions from low-producing wells. Other rules require cleaner and equipment, and set standards for measuring and reporting emissions to the state.
According to a recent ECMC on the outcomes of the state鈥檚 strengthened energy regulations, all the new rules adopted since 2019 have resulted in a 74% drop in new well permits between 2022 and 2024 compared to five years earlier. Greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector have also been substantially reduced.
But air pollution is inherent to oil and gas mining and the goal is to limit it to reasonable levels, not regulate it away entirely, according to Shoup.
鈥淭hese facilities all will have some degree of emissions,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey're not no-emitting.鈥�
Monitoring and enforcement
The state public health department employs 22 full-time air quality inspectors and the ECMC has an additional staff of 57 inspectors whose job is to visit oil and gas sites and respond to public complaints.
鈥淕enerally, within 24 hours, we're responding to the complaint,鈥� said Shoup. 鈥淲e're reaching out to the operator and following up on that that information.鈥�
But, there are more than 10,000 active oil and gas sites across the state, dwarfing regulators鈥� fleet of inspectors. Environmentalists say that ratio is a problem.
鈥淭here is a huge mismatch in terms of people power at the state versus the amount of potential sources,鈥� said Andrew Klooster, field advocate and thermographer with the environmental nonprofit Earthworks. 鈥淭hey're usually playing catch up.鈥�
That lack of capacity means enforcement of that robust slate of rules depends on information the oil and gas industry generates itself.
鈥淲e rely, as a regulatory agency, on self-reported data,鈥� said Kristin Kemp, an ECMC spokesperson. 鈥淭he vast majority is data that is self-reported from operators and submitted to us. We operate under the assumption of a basic level of integrity in self-reported data.鈥�
The problem with self-reporting
But according to Klooster, that鈥檚 a problematic assumption.
鈥淭hese rules and regulations, while objectively setting a bar that's higher than most other places are still ultimately, unfortunately, premised on a self-policing mechanism at their core,鈥� Klooster said. 鈥淎nd it's an industry that, as we know, historically hasn't necessarily wanted to tell the public the truth.鈥�
Through his advocacy work, Klooster has been accumulating evidence to support his skepticism. He collects his own data with an optical gas imaging camera. It looks like a clunky old camcorder, but it's actually a highly specialized infrared device that picks up on hydrocarbons - colorless, odorless pollutants associated with oil and gas production. Without the camera, the gases are invisible to human senses.
Last June, Klooster examined a well pad on the edge of a crop circle west of Eaton, where his camera revealed a troubling plume of hydrocarbons belching out of a burner stack.
鈥淚t was just an uncontrolled release of emissions pouring out of the engine,鈥� Klooster said. 鈥淚t was kind of blowing across the horizon.鈥�
He filed a complaint with the Air Pollution Control Division. According to Klooster鈥檚 records, the site operator, Bayswater Exploration and Production reported back to regulators that they鈥檇 discovered and fixed a faulty valve on the site鈥檚 compressor engine. The case was closed.
But when Klooster returned with his OGI camera to check in on the site two months later, he found the same plume, still emitting. It took another round of filing complaints before the issue was resolved.
Klooster allowed that it鈥檚 possible a first fix didn鈥檛 take. But he said he thinks it鈥檚 more likely that the first fix never happened and was falsely reported as having been resolved.
鈥淐hecking in on this stuff after they've reported repairs to see if they've actually done it: this is the game that we play,鈥� he said.
Bayswater representatives declined an interview request but provided a written statement.
鈥淎ir quality is a top priority for Bayswater throughout all our operations,鈥� the statement said. 鈥淏ayswater operates in compliance with all state and local regulations, including those specific to air emissions, and has achieved measurable progress in realizing our emission reduction targets.鈥�
For Ault resident Carol Hawkins, how the regulations are set and enforced are besides the point if her community remains unsafe.
鈥淭his is life and death for us,鈥� she said. 鈥淚'm tired of hearing Colorado has the strongest regulations in the country. They're not protecting us.鈥�
