Empowering Colorado Communities: The Importance of the Community Right to Know Act

Spills from the oil and gas industry represent a clear present threat to public health for communities living near oil and gas extraction operations. A report by Physicians for Social Responsibility shows that Colorado continues to allow oil and gas operators to use polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or “forever chemicals,” such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) in their drilling and hydraulic fracturing operations. When these fracking chemicals and the hydrocarbons that include BTEX chemicals (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene) spill, they put communities at risk of a variety of health impacts known to be caused by these chemicals.

Communities should be immediately informed of spills that increase their health risks. This is particularly important for communities that live near oil and gas extraction operations, as spills of toxic chemicals are common in the oil and gas industry. Oil and gas wastewater and crude spills often contaminate groundwater, soils, surface waters, and local and regional air quality. Communities deserve to be immediately alerted when hazardous spills occur. HB 24-1359 is a necessary bill to address this major gap in risk communication.

The maps and analysis presented below show the locations of more than 3,700 oil and gas spills that have been reported to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) since 2020. The maps highlight where these spills are known to have contaminated groundwater. Additional maps show that some of the health impacts that have been linked to oil and gas activity are most common in Colorado where these spills are occurring.

The analysis finds that at least 54% of the spills that were reported to the COGCC in 2023 were located within 2,000 feet of a home.