The effects of hydraulic fracturing activities on birth outcomes are evident in a non-individualized county-wide aggregate data sample from Colorado

Background: There is growing concern about the recent increase in oil and gas development using hydraulic fracturing. Studies linking adverse birth outcomes and maternal proximity to hydraulic fracturing wells exist but tend to use individualized maternal and infant data contained in protected health care records. In this study, we extended the findings of these past studies to evaluate if analogous effects detected with individualized data could be detected from non-individualized county-wide aggregated data.Design and Methods: This study used a retrospective cohort of 252,502 birth records from 1999 to 2019 gathered from a subset sample of 5 counties in the state of Colorado where hydraulic fracturing activities were conducted. We used Generalized Linear Models to evaluate the effect of county-wide well density and production data over unidentified birth weight, and prematurity data. Covariates used in the model were county-wide statistics sourced from the US Census.Results: Our modeling approach showed an interesting effect where hydraulic fracturing exposure metrics have a mixed effect directional response. This effect was detected on birth weight when well density, production and their interaction are accounted for. The interaction effect provides an additional interpretation to discrepancies reported previously in the literature. Our approach only detected a positive association to prematurity with increased production.Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate two main points: First, the effect of hydraulic fracturing is detectable by using county-wide unidentified data. Second, the effect of hydraulic fracturing can be complicated by the number of operations and the intensity of the activities in the area.

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Maternal Exposure to Indoor Air Pollution and Birth Outcomes

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16081364 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (8) ◽

pp. 1364 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Peter Franklin ◽

Mark Tan ◽

Naomi Hemy ◽

Graham L. Hall

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Pregnant Women ◽

Birth Outcomes ◽

Indoor Air ◽

Indoor Air Pollution ◽

Linear Models ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Ambient Air Pollution ◽

Z Score ◽

Birth Records

There is a growing body of research on the association between ambient air pollution and adverse birth outcomes. However, people in high income countries spend most of their time indoors. Pregnant women spend much of that time at home. The aim of this study was to investigate if indoor air pollutants were associated with poor birth outcomes. Pregnant women were recruited prior to 18 weeks gestation. They completed a housing questionnaire and household chemical use survey. Indoor pollutants, formaldehyde (HCHO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), were monitored in the women’s homes at 34 weeks gestation. Gestational age (GA), birth weight (BW) and length (BL) and head circumference (HC) were collected from birth records. The associations between measured pollutants, and pollution surrogates, were analysed using general linear models, controlling for maternal age, parity, maternal health, and season of birth. Only HCHO was associated with any of the birth outcomes. There was a 0.044 decrease in BW z-score (p = 0.033) and 0.05 decrease in HC z-score (p = 0.06) for each unit increase in HCHO. Although HCHO concentrations were very low, this finding is consistent with other studies of formaldehyde and poor birth outcomes.

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Standard Guide for Data Management and Reporting Associated with Oil and Gas Development Involving Hydraulic Fracturing

10.1520/d8053 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

Hydraulic Fracturing ◽

Data Management ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Oil And Gas Development

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Unprecedented quiescence in resource development area allows detection of long-lived latent seismicity

Solid Earth ◽

10.5194/se-12-765-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 765-783

Author(s):

Rebecca O. Salvage ◽

David W. Eaton

Keyword(s):

British Columbia ◽

Hydraulic Fracturing ◽

Pore Pressure ◽

Stock Prices ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Economic Market ◽

Oil And Gas Development ◽

Seismicity Rate ◽

North East ◽

Correlation Prior

Abstract. Recent seismicity in Alberta and north-east British Columbia has been attributed to ongoing oil and gas development in the area, due to its temporal and spatial correlation. Prior to such development, the area was seismically quiescent. Here, we show evidence that latent seismicity may occur in areas where previous operations have occurred, even during a shutdown in operations. The global COVID-19 pandemic furnished the unique opportunity to study seismicity during a long period of anthropogenic quiescence. Within the Kiskatinaw area of British Columbia, 389 events were detected from April to August 2020, which encompasses a period with very little hydraulic fracturing operations. This reduction in operations was the result of a government-imposed lockdown severely restricting the movement of people as well as a downturn in the economic market causing industry stock prices to collapse. Except for a reduction in the seismicity rate and a lack of temporal clustering that is often characteristic of hydraulic fracturing induced sequences, the general characteristics of the observed seismicity were similar to the preceding time period of active operations. During the period of relative quiescence, event magnitudes were observed between ML −0.7 and ML 1.2, which is consistent with previous event magnitudes in the area. Hypocentres occurred in a corridor orientated NW–SE, just as seismicity had done in previous years, and were located at depths associated with the target Montney formation or shallower (<2.5 km). A maximum of 21 % of the detected events during lockdown may be attributable to natural seismicity, with a further 8 % potentially attributed to dynamic triggering of seismicity from teleseismic events and 6 % related to ongoing saltwater disposal and a single operational well pad. However, this leaves ∼65 % of the seismicity detected during lockdown being unattributable to primary activation mechanisms. This seismicity is unlikely to be the result of direct pore pressure increases (as very little direct injection of fluids was occurring at the time) and we see no patterns of temporal or spatial migration in the seismicity as would be expected from direct pore pressure increases. Instead, we suggest that this latent seismicity may be generated by aseismic slip as fluids (resulting from previous hydraulic fracturing injection) become trapped within permeable formations at depth, keeping pore pressures in the area elevated and consequently allowing the generation of seismicity. Alternatively, this seismicity may be the result of fault and fracture weakening in response to previous fluid injection. This is the first time that this latent seismicity has been observed in this area of British Columbia and, as such, this may now represent the new normal background seismicity rate within the Kiskatinaw area.

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Standard Guide for Data Management and Reporting Associated with Oil and Gas Development Involving Hydraulic Fracturing

10.1520/d8053-18 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

Hydraulic Fracturing ◽

Data Management ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Oil And Gas Development

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Comparison of chemical-use between hydraulic fracturing, acidizing, and routine oil and gas development

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0175344 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. e0175344 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

William T. Stringfellow ◽

Mary Kay Camarillo ◽

Jeremy K. Domen ◽

Seth B. C. Shonkoff

Keyword(s):

Hydraulic Fracturing ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Oil And Gas Development

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DACA's Association With Birth Outcomes Among Mexican-Origin Mothers in the United States

Demography ◽

10.1215/00703370-9099310 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Erin R. Hamilton ◽

Paola D. Langer ◽

Caitlin Patler

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Birth Weight ◽

Low Birth Weight ◽

Birth Outcomes ◽

Very Low Birth Weight ◽

The United States ◽

Legal Rights ◽

Mexican Immigrant ◽

Mexican Immigrant Women ◽

Birth Records

Abstract The 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program granted work authorization and protection from deportation to more than 800,000 young undocumented immigrants who arrived to the United States as minors. We estimate the association between this expansion of legal rights and birth outcomes among 72,613 singleton births to high school–educated Mexican immigrant women in the United States from June 2010 to May 2014, using birth records data from the National Center for Health Statistics. Exploiting the arbitrariness of the upper age cutoff for DACA eligibility and using a difference-in-differences design, we find that DACA was associated with improvements in the rates of low birth weight and very low birth weight, birth weight in grams, and gestational age among Mexican immigrant mothers.

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Structural reform and petroleum (environment) regulations in the Northern Territory

The APPEA Journal ◽

10.1071/aj15071 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 56 (2) ◽

pp. 565

Author(s):

Jop van Hattum ◽

Victoria Jackson

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Hydraulic Fracturing ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Northern Territory ◽

Regulatory Framework ◽

Structural Reform ◽

Oil And Gas Development ◽

Consultation Process ◽

Ecologically Sustainable ◽

Ecologically Sustainable Development

The opportunity for onshore oil and gas development in the Northern Territory (NT) has grown exponentially in recent years, driven by the NT’s expansive shale gas resources in the McArthur Basin and elsewhere. Such resources provide many potential benefits to the territory’s economy, including job creation and clean, cost-effective energy generation opportunities. Critical to the successful development of the industry is a legitimate social licence to operate with the community, for which strong environmental regulation is a key enabling factor. Communities must be assured that oil and gas activities can provide ecologically sustainable development, and a transparent, evidence- and risk-based framework is the best way to achieve this. Following the NT Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing by Dr Allan Hawke in November 2014, and further review of the environmental assessment and approval processes in May 2015, the NT Government has implemented structural reform and developed contemporary outcome-focused Petroleum (Environment) Regulations to balance environmental protection with the economic development benefits offered by the onshore gas industry. Those objectives include that petroleum development in the NT: is consistent with the principles of ecologically sustainable development; reduces risks and impacts to levels that are as low as reasonably practicable and acceptable; ensures meaningful engagement with stakeholder; and, provides for transparency of decision-making and publication of approved environment management plans in full. This extended abstract provides an update of the reform of the regulatory framework, the regulatory objectives, the regulations by which they’re achieved, and the consultation process followed to gain wide stakeholder support. It will also highlight that strong regulations alone do not provide a robust regulatory framework, and the steps the NT Government is taking to achieve its objective. The regulations are planned to come into force in the third quarter of 2016. Meanwhile, a full review of the NT Petroleum Act and development of Petroleum (Resource Management) Regulations that takes into consideration the recommendations from the Hawke Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing in the NT is underway.

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United States Experience Regulating Unconventional Oil and Gas Development

10.2118/afrc-2573582-ms ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Edith Allison

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Drinking Water ◽

Hydraulic Fracturing ◽

Environmental Protection ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

The United States ◽

Oil And Gas Development ◽

Unconventional Oil ◽

Oil And Gas Operations ◽

Unconventional Oil And Gas

ABSTRACT In the midst of aggressive anti-drilling campaigns by environmental organizations and well-publicized complaints by citizens unaccustomed to oil and gas operations, rigorous studies of unconventional oil and gas development show that there are no widespread or systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States. In addition, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions have significantly declined with the growth in natural gas production and its use in power generation. Furthermore, induced seismicity from subsurface waste disposal has plummeted in response to industry initiatives and new regulations. This record of environmental protection reflects the fact that U.S. hydraulic fracturing, like other oil and gas operations, is highly regulated by the states. In addition, air emissions, operations on federal lands, and subsurface injection are subject to federal regulation. Academic and government researchers have documented that chemicals and gas produced by hydraulic fracturing are not contaminating drinking water. However, as an added complication, methane occurs naturally in drinking water aquifers in some producing areas. In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completed a four-year study of potential aquifer contamination from hydraulic fracturing and associated industry operations. The report found some impacts on drinking water including contamination of drinking water wells; however, the number of cases was small compared to the number of wells hydraulically fractured. The scientific peer-review and public critique of the study, which continues after more than a year, may recommend additional research. The emotionally charged, anti-fracking campaigns provided important lessons to U.S. operators: pre-drilling, baseline data on water and air quality are essential to answering public concerns; infrastructure issues such as increased truck traffic on small, local roads are important to residents; and the initial failure to disclose the composition of hydraulic fracturing fluid intensified public concern.

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Health Disturbances of Negative Nutritional Shocks

SIASAT ◽

10.33258/siasat.v6i2.95 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 114-119

Author(s):

Zare Markovic ◽

Vedad Hodzic ◽

Hossein Shahri

Keyword(s):

Birth Weight ◽

Birth Outcomes ◽

Critical Period ◽

Fixed Effect Model ◽

Prenatal Development ◽

Effect Model ◽

The Us ◽

Birth Records ◽

The Universe ◽

Origin Hypothesis

The Fetal Origin Hypothesis show that the prenatal development period is a critical period for birth outcomes. Applying a panel data fixed effect model and using the universe of birth records in the US, I find that exposure to the holy month Ramadan, during which Muslim mothers fast for the whole day, during prenatal development has negative birth outcomes. Exposure to a full month of fasting is associated with 96 grams lower birth-weight. These results are robust across specifications and do not appear to be driven by mothers’ selective fertility.

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