Oil and Gas Industries' Toxic Pollutants Are Poisoning
African-American Communities, Increasing Risks of
Cancer and Respiratory Diseases
Landmark Study Co-Authored by Clean Air Task Force and the NAACP,
and supported by the National Medical Association
WASHINGTON, DC, November 14, 2017 -- Clean Air Task Force (CATF) and the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP) have co-authored a landmark report that demonstrates, for the first time, the specific health
risks from airborne pollutants caused by oil and natural gas development impacting African American communities.
The study, Fumes Across the Fence-Line: The Health Impacts of Air Pollution from Oil and Gas Facilities on African
American Communities, is being launched today at a briefing at the National Press Club by CATF and NAACP, and supported
by the National Medical Association (NMA).
Key findings of the study are:
Oil and natural gas facilities are built near or currently exist within a half-mile of over one million African
Americans, exposing them to an elevated risk of cancer due to air toxic emissions;
The oil and natural gas industries violate the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) air quality standards for ozone
smog due to natural gas emissions in many African American communities, causing over 138,000 asthma attacks among school
children and over 100,000 missed school days each year;
There are 91 counties across the U.S. that are building oil refineries or where refineries exist close to more than 6.7
million African Americans, or 14 percent of the national population, disproportionately exposing them to toxic and
hazardous emissions such as benzene, sulfur dioxide and formaldehyde.
These "fence-line" communities, or communities where oil and natural gas refineries are placed near the property lines
or fences of African American and low-income people, are the focus of the groundbreaking study, providing data on the
environmental racism that activists have been fighting for decades.
"Energy companies often deny responsibility for the disproportionate impact of polluting facilities on lower-income
communities and communities of color," said Kathy Egland, NAACP's Environmental and Climate Justice Committee Board
Chair. "It is claimed that in most cases the potentially toxic facilities were built first and communities knowingly
developed around them. However, studies of such areas show that industrial polluting facilities and sites have
frequently been built in transitional neighborhoods, where the demographics have shifted from wealthier white residents
to lower-income people of color. Polluting facilities also reduce nearby property values, making them more affordable
areas to live in for people who do not have the means to live elsewhere."
"Studies of air pollution from the oil and gas industry have revealed emissions throughout the entire supply chain, from
the wellhead to the consumer, with deleterious effects on communities around the country," said Lesley Fleischman,
Research Analyst for Clean Air Task Force and co-author of the study. "However, we've found that fence-line communities,
including many African Americans, are suffering especially serious health consequences as a result of these emissions."
The health impacts from the oil and natural gas supply chain described in Fumes Across the Fence-Line are based on data
and analysis that were first quantified in two recent reports published by CATF. First, Fossil Fumes examined how air
toxics are linked to increased risk of cancer and respiratory disorders in dozens of counties that exceed EPA's level of
concern. And Gasping for Breath, also published in 2016, estimated the health impacts from ozone smog caused by
emissions from the oil and gas industry.
Fumes Across the Fence-Line also uses the Oil and Gas Threat Map, developed by Earthworks and FracTracker Alliance, to
illustrate the threats faced by people across the nation from pollution from the oil and gas industry. The map shows the
locations of the 1.2 million oil and gas facilities operating around the country, as well as the populations, schools,
and hospitals within a half-mile radius of those facilities.
The largest African American populations living in areas with cancer risk above EPA's level of concern are found in
Texas and Louisiana, with close to 900,000 individuals at risk in those two states alone. Some of the largest African
American populations at risk for childhood asthma attacks due to ozone smog resulting from oil and gas facilities are
located in Houston and Dallas. However, since pollutants can drift for hundreds or even thousands of miles before
forming ozone smog, African American communities as far as Chicago, Washington, DC, and New York City each face
thousands of childhood asthma attacks each year due to oil and gas pollution. In addition, the report found that three
states - Texas, Ohio and California, closely followed by Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma - have the largest share
of African American citizens living within the half-mile "threat zone."
"The effects of oil and gas pollution are disproportionately afflicting African Americans, particularly cancer and
respiratory issues, and the trend is only increasing," said Dr. Doris Browne, NMA President. "Our membership is seeing
far too many patients in communities of color suffering from these diseases. It is our goal to fight to reverse this
dangerous trend."
The EPA in 2016 took a welcome step in finalizing strong standards for methane and ozone smog-forming volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) covering new and modified oil and gas facilities. Doing so would have the additional benefit of
cleaning up other pollutants including air toxics such as benzene, formaldehyde and sulfur dioxide. It also began to
address the 1.2 million existing sources of methane and other airborne pollutants, which spew out millions of tons of
pollutants without any controls. However, the Trump Administration has targeted these protections and those governing
methane emissions on public lands. These rollbacks are currently being challenged in courts across the country.
"What this Administration is discovering as it attempts to undo vital health and environmental protections is that these
sensible standards cannot simply be wished away, only to the benefit of the oil and gas industry," said Sarah Uhl,
Program Director, Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, for Clean Air Task Force. "Not only do we have the law on our side, we
also have the medical and scientific communities who will help ensure that our air, and our health, particularly in
fence-line communities, are protected to the full extent of the law."
To find the full study, please visit NAACP.org