Kyle Ferrar, MPH, Author at FracTracker Alliance

About Kyle Ferrar, MPH

Western Program Director

Kyle Ferrar is the Western Program Director at FracTracker Alliance where the majority of his current projects focus on extraction activities in California and Colorado. His time and energy is focused on supporting the needs of grassroots organizations in these geographies. Kyle has worked on extraction related environmental justice issues since 2007, and began his career as a staff researcher at the Center for Healthy Environments and Communities at the University of Pittsburgh, where he completed his graduate work.

His current work focuses on connecting the knowledge of empirical research with the stories told by regulatory monitoring data, and leveraging these connections to uplift the lived experiences communicated by frontline communities.

At home, he lives well above the snowline in the Western Sierras with his dogs and partner, where they explore the backcountry for fun and adventure.

Phone: (415) 890-3722
Email: ferrar@fractracker.org

Read Kyle's Staff Spotlight

Entries by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

Kern County’s Drafted EIR Will Increase the Burden for Frontline Communities

March 4, 2021/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

Built on sound data and ample research, FracTracker recommends several measures be taken to protect the health of California’s overburdened Frontline Communities.

California Oil & Gas Setbacks Recommendations Memo

February 23, 2021/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

The purpose of this memo is to recommend guidelines to CalGEM for evaluating the economic value of the social benefits and costs to people and the environment in requiring a 2,500 foot setback for oil and gas drilling (OGD) activities.

Oil and Gas Wells on California State Lands

February 12, 2021/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

The fossil fuel industry has historically taken advantage of the nation’s mineral estate for private profit, while outsourcing the public health debts of degraded environmental quality to Frontline Communities. While President Biden has recently ordered the Department of Interior to put a 60-day halt on permitting new oil and gas drilling permits on federal lands, […]

People and Production: Reducing Risk in California Extraction

December 17, 2020/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

Executive Summary New research shows that low-income communities and communities of color that are most impacted by oil and gas extraction (Frontline Communities) in California are at an elevated risk for preterm birth, low birth weight, and other negative birth outcomes. This is in addition to the elevated risks of cancer; risks for respiratory, cardiovascular, […]

Documenting emissions from new oil and gas wells in California

November 18, 2020/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

Working with the environmental nonprofit Earthworks, FracTracker Alliance filmed emissions from oil and gas sites that have been issued permits in California under Governor Gavin Newsom since the beginning of 2019. Using state-of-the-art technology called optical gas imaging (OGI), we documented otherwise invisible toxic pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) being released from oil […]

Recommendations for an EIR to prioritize Kern County Frontline Communities

September 16, 2020/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

Kern County Environmental Impact Report As we have discussed in previous reports, Kern County is required to develop a new set of environmental impact report (EIR) requirements for permitting new oil and gas wells. With this recent development, it is necessary to provide science-based recommendations for the EIR to prioritize the protection of the […]

Systematic Racism in Kern County Oil and Gas Permitting Ordinance

June 8, 2020/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

Kern County, California has approved at least 18,356 illegal permits to drill new and rework existing oil and gas wells from 2015 – 2019 (data downloaded May 18, 2020). In a monumental decision in February of 2020, a California court ruled that a Kern County oil and gas ordinance paid for and drafted by the […]

California, Back in Frack

May 7, 2020/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

California is once again a fracked state. The moratorium on well stimulations (hydraulic fracturing and acidizing) that lasted since June 26, 2019 has now come to an end. As of April 3rd, 2020, California’s oil and gas regulatory body, California Geological Energy Management Division (CalGEM), approved 24 new permits to frack new wells. The wells […]

California Setback Analyses Summary

April 2, 2020/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

FracTracker Alliance has conducted numerous spatial analyses concerning the proximity of oil and gas extraction infrastructure to sensitive receptors, including healthcare centers, locations where children congregate, locations where the elderly congregate, as well sensitive habitat for endangered and threatened wildlife. In this article, we summarize the results of a handful of these analyses that are […]

Governor Newsom Must Do More to Address the Cause of Oil Spill Surface Expressions

February 24, 2020/by Kyle Ferrar, MPH

Chevron and other oil and gas companies in western Kern County have drilled so many oil and gas wells that they have essentially turned this area of California into a block of Swiss cheese. As a result, several of the most over-developed oil fields (in the world!) are suffering from gushing oil seeps known as […]