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Scientist to brief Garfield County commissioners on health study
Commissioners give contract six month extension
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — An initial draft of a study into the oil and gas industry and other area health risks is expected to be presented to the Garfield County commissioners in early May.
Teresa Coons, senior scientist with the St. Mary’s Saccomanno Research Institute, is expected to brief the commissioners on the scope of the study on May 5, said Jim Rada, the county’s environmental health manager.
A final report of the study is expected to be available in late May, Rada said. Community meetings that will be organized to share the information in the study will be conducted in June, he added.
The goal of the study was to have a neutral, third party analyze the risks to help open a dialogue on health concerns in the county.
Rada briefed the county commissioners about the timeline of the study because commissioners were asked to approve an extension of the contract for work the institute and Mesa State College are doing for the study. Commissioners agreed to the extension on Monday.
In a letter Coons wrote to Commissioner John Martin, she wrote that the institute failed to ask for an extension of the contract, which ended Dec. 31. The new deadline of the contract is now May 31.
“I accept full responsibility for failing to remember that clause of the agreement, and apologize for the oversight on my part,” Coons wrote, adding that she has kept in close contact with Rada and that while the researchers conducting the study have accomplished much, they are running behind in their goal of completing the study.
“In no small part, as a result of the success of our household survey and our ability to collect a considerable amount of data regarding the health of individuals living in Garfield County, we are grappling with the complexity of analyzing and summarizing these data.”
A study of the county’s air quality, released late last year, found no violations of federal air quality standards and that the levels of air pollutants in the area were “generally very low.” But a preliminary health risk assessment provided with that study said that some oil and gas sites appeared to “present significantly higher cancer risk than urban and rural” areas. The assessment also said there were potential impacts from benzene, a known carcinogen, across oil and gas development areas of the county.
Contact Phillip Yates: 384-9117
pyates@postindependent.com
Teresa Coons, senior scientist with the St. Mary’s Saccomanno Research Institute, is expected to brief the commissioners on the scope of the study on May 5, said Jim Rada, the county’s environmental health manager.
A final report of the study is expected to be available in late May, Rada said. Community meetings that will be organized to share the information in the study will be conducted in June, he added.
The goal of the study was to have a neutral, third party analyze the risks to help open a dialogue on health concerns in the county.
Rada briefed the county commissioners about the timeline of the study because commissioners were asked to approve an extension of the contract for work the institute and Mesa State College are doing for the study. Commissioners agreed to the extension on Monday.
In a letter Coons wrote to Commissioner John Martin, she wrote that the institute failed to ask for an extension of the contract, which ended Dec. 31. The new deadline of the contract is now May 31.
“I accept full responsibility for failing to remember that clause of the agreement, and apologize for the oversight on my part,” Coons wrote, adding that she has kept in close contact with Rada and that while the researchers conducting the study have accomplished much, they are running behind in their goal of completing the study.
“In no small part, as a result of the success of our household survey and our ability to collect a considerable amount of data regarding the health of individuals living in Garfield County, we are grappling with the complexity of analyzing and summarizing these data.”
A study of the county’s air quality, released late last year, found no violations of federal air quality standards and that the levels of air pollutants in the area were “generally very low.” But a preliminary health risk assessment provided with that study said that some oil and gas sites appeared to “present significantly higher cancer risk than urban and rural” areas. The assessment also said there were potential impacts from benzene, a known carcinogen, across oil and gas development areas of the county.
Contact Phillip Yates: 384-9117
pyates@postindependent.com
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