O I L
EXTRACTION
“Chemical byproducts of oil extraction [include] benzene and hydrogen sulfide," as well as
"particulate matter (PM2.5), carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, ozone and volatile organic compounds.”
Nalleli Cobo grew up next to an oil drilling site. When she was 9, “her nose started bleeding … [later came] … headaches and heart palpitations." ​​ She developed cancer, but as of 2022, she is cancer free.
“Studies have linked proximity to drilling to … asthma [and] leukemia.”
“Mothers exposed to this pollution [might] have babies ... born with birth defects.”
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TRANSPORTATION
“Shipments of crude [oil] by rail have increased with more domestic oil production.”
Tragically, there have been “significant crude by rail accidents in North America” over the past dozen years, “as well as relevant spills from barges, tankers and pipelines”.
PROCESSING
At the “85-mile stretch of Louisiana known as ‘Cancer Alley’,” you can find “towering chemical plants and their mysterious white plumes, the roadside ditches oozing with blue fluid, the air that smells of rotten eggs or nail-polish remover, the neighbors suffering miscarriages and dying of cancer.”
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It’s not just Louisiana. An Amnesty International report exposed “the harms suffered … from pollution emitted by … petrochemical plants and refineries along the Houston Ship Channel in Texas.”
On the West Coast, California's ten “most frequent ... routine toxic ... emissions from ... refineries” are:
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ammonia
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formaldehyde
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methanol
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sulfuric acid (see photo)
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hydrogen sulfide
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toluene
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xylene
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benzene
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hexane
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hydrogen chloride
UTILIZATION
When fuel is burned in a car, a toxic brew of chemicals exit tail pipes (benzene, sulfur dioxide, formaldehyde).
These, plus other petroleum pollutants, exacerbate cardiovascular and pulmonary disorders.
​A similar chemical cocktail comes out of jet airplane engines.
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“Residents claim living near [the] airport exposes [them] to pollution … including particulate matter and harmful gasses
… contaminating the air residents breathe and the soil where their children play.”
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“Exposure to the alleged airport pollution can cause respiratory issues such as asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease, Alzheimer’s disease and disorders of the central nervous system.”
by Mary and Angus Hogg
“More than 45 million people in the United States live within 300 feet of a major transportation facility or roadway
that exposes them to potentially hazardous levels of pollution.” Air is dirtier there than in “wealthier neighborhoods.”
ABANDONMENT
The Washington Post printed an article about abandoned wells in 2023. The following quotes are from that story:
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Sealing these wells could
"result in significantly fewer toxic substances, such as arsenic and benzene, polluting [our] groundwater."
"The wells are everywhere."
“'We really only know where a fraction of them are'.”
"The E.P.A. estimates the actual number of abandoned wells ... could be in the millions."
"Methane that leaks from them each year accounts for nearly 3 percent of the U.S. total."
​For more on orphaned GAS wells go to ABONDEED GAS WELLS}. anchor....
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Oil wells are not the only problem, there are also abandoned oil refineries. Photographer Michael Christopher exhibits many photos of these places here.​
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“'There are still wells out here that nobody even knows about'.”