Transcript – Hydrocarbon Exposure and Public Perceptions in Shale Areas

Howdy, this is Project AD 142 Hydrocarbon Exposure and Public Perceptions in Shale Areas by myself, Gunnar Schade, Michael Schmidt, Scott Shafer from the Department of Recreation Park and Tourism Sciences, and my colleague Sarah Brooks. We set up measurements in the Permian Basin in far northwest Texas, testing a passive hydrocarbon measurement method, together with a weather station that is partially maintained by some citizen scientist volunteers in the area. We also did two trips to the area to two parks to do surveys on park visitors, asking them how they think air quality is affected and how the energy development in this case, oil and gas, is it affecting them themselves versus their recreational activity in the area? Interestingly, we found that there’s indeed very significant air pollution in the area with very high hydrocarbon concentrations at times concerning levels of benzene and relatively high ozone, considering that this is a very clean, supposedly very clean rural area. The surveys show that there’s a large fraction of park visitors who are quite concerned about the development in the area, and they do notice that the air quality is affected. There are some interesting relationships between gender and political beliefs in this area. So, we think that there’s some more work that should be done in this field. Thanks for watching.