EPA Research Partner Support Story: Emissions measurement methods

Partners: Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), oil and gas cooperators
Challenge: Support efficient development of US energy resources while protecting human health
Resource: Next generation measurement methods
Project Period: 2016 – 2023

Oil and natural gas production have increased significantly within Utah’s Uinta Basin, Colorado’s Denver-Julesburg Basin, West Virginia’s Marcellus Shale, and across the United States over the last decades. Approximately three-quarters of the production in the Uinta Basin is on Indian Country within the Uintah and Ouray Reservation. Oil and natural gas extraction and production activities co-emit volatile organic compounds, and greenhouse gases directly to the atmosphere. Industry, regulators and communities have shared interests in understanding and minimizing sources of harmful air emissions from oil and gas production activities.

“EPA ORD has been a valuable partner in our efforts to advance needed energy development while improving air quality in the Uinta Basin.” – Utah DEQ Alan Matheson (former Executive Director)

EPA ORD researchers in collaboration with Region 8 (Mountains and Plains) are working with Utah and Colorado state officials and oil and gas operators to conduct emissions research on pneumatic controllers used in upstream production. Pneumatic controllers provide process control and safety functions and emit natural gas to the atmosphere. Because of the very large number of these devices, they contribute significantly to air emissions, however some uncertainty remains regarding the real-world emissions from these devices. In 2016, research was conducted in cooperation with oil and gas operators in the Uinta Basin, Utah, on assessing emissions from pneumatic controllers using next generation measurement methods. In 2018, EPA ORD worked with CPDHE to conducted field surveys of pneumatic controller emissions in the Denver-Julesburg Basin. Next, EPA ORD performed cooperative research with Region 3 (Mid-Atlantic) and a Marcellus Shale oil and gas operator on emission measurements and inventory analysis of production in West Virginia, providing useful data to WV DEP for pneumatic controller and other emission sources.

The collaboration between EPA, the states of Utah, Colorado and West Virginia, and oil and gas operators will improve understanding of these devices and measurement methods, and ultimately support better development of US energy assets in ways that also protect human health and the environment.

Additional resources:

• Quantification of natural gas and other hydrocarbons from production sites in northern West Virginia using tracer flux ratio methodology
• Evaluating natural gas emissions from pneumatic controllers from upstream oil and gas facilities in West Virginia
• Methane emissions from oil and gas production sites and their storage tanks in West Virginia
• Understanding Oil and Gas Pneumatic Controllers in the Denver-Julesburg Basin using Optical Gas Imaging
• Assessment of Uinta Basin Oil and Natural Gas Well Pad Pneumatic Controller Emissions
• Advancing Understanding of Emissions from Oil and Natural Gas Production Operations to Support EPA’s Air Quality Modeling of Ozone Non-Attainment Areas; Final Summary Report