Who Says it's Safe? Community-based Monitoring of Hydrogen Sulfide in the Gaspatch

• In Event: 254 - Section on Environment and Technology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 05. Fracking

Abstract

Given the rapid upsurge in hydraulic fracturing operations in recent years and the lack of regulatory attention to its effects on surrounding communities, the ability of ‘gaspatch’ residents to collectively document, monitor, and analyze their exposures has become increasingly important. This research focuses on one contaminant associated with fracking and the regulatory black hole that surrounds it. Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) is a neurotoxic gas that poses a serious hazard to oil and gas workers as well as community residents. While oil and gas workers are provided with digital monitors to alert them to dangerous levels of H2S when entering the field, many ‘gaspatch’ community residents are constantly exposed to H2S yet have no affordable, systematic way to assess their exposure. We analyze how different methods of knowledge production shape the kind of information produced about H2S exposure and argue that digital monitors, which rely upon numerical safety limits that are determined in a laboratory, do not fully capture the type of exposure that community residents actually experience. We show how regulatory regimes, ostensibly meant to protect people’s health and safety, can actually serve to obscure the hazards of toxic exposure and protect industry interests. We then discuss the development of a low-cost monitoring method based on the principles of ‘civic science’ that strives to make communities’ experiences with H2S legible. In the face of widespread regulatory neglect, we conclude that civic science may help communities challenge industry and regulatory narratives of safety and contribute to community-based advocacy efforts.

Authors

• Elisabeth Wilder, Northeastern University

• Sara Wylie, Northeastern University