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September 3, 2019
In collaboration with Earthworks, the Center for Human Rights and Environment conducted a 5-day field visit to over 50 oil and gas sites in Colombia, to register toxic gas emissions from Colombia’s oil and gas infrastructure. The field work included visits to Puerto Boyaca, Barrancabermeja, Lisama, Puerto Wilches and San Martin, all located in one of Colombia’s central oil and gas producing regions.
The images captured by a FLIR camera technology show intense gas emissions at numerous crude storage tanks, pump jacks, compression stations, gas separator equipment, flaring equipment and other oil and gas infrastructure situated at the locations visited. The FLIR Camera utilized is calibrated to detect gases such as methane, benzene, xylene, ethyl benzene, propane, and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Methane is a green house gas many times more potent than CO2 for climate change impacts, while VOCs gases produce a number of health impacts, ranging from eye and skin irritation, dizziness, vomiting, respiratory disease, cancer and even in some cases, if inhaled in large quantities, sudden death.
In at least two of the sites tested, copious emissions both from pump jacks and storage facilities, were taking place within 100 meters of primary schools. In many cases, emitting oil and sites are located alongside areas that are populated.
The field visit was followed by a workshop held in San Martin, Cesar, attended by non-governmental organizations fighting to stop fracking exploration as well as, by over a dozen national media journalists concerned with the emissions tour findings.
Since the field visit, industry representatives and national government agencies have expressed concern over the emissions images that are circulating in the national media, and have vowed to explore the source of the emissions.
for more information:
J. Daniel Taillant
[email protected]
+1 415 713 2309
LINK TO ALL EMISSIONS VIDEO CLIPS:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9BS7nDf-8trxRsE8QMEMSPGa57Rj6fLD