Some local communities support gas and oil development because of the expected economic benefits. However, communities may experience a variety of impacts, such as noise and light pollution; congested, damaged roads and increased traffic accidents; overpopulated schools; increased crime rates; social and health services stretched thin; and boom and bust economies.
Below are stories about communities impacted by the oil and gas industry.
Protecting the Next Generations Right to Ranch - Rancher Terry Punt sat at the kitchen table talking about the ranch his wife’s family has been operating for the past 140 years. He talked… Continue reading → Protecting the Next Generations Right to Ranch
More than a Decade later, Pavillion Residents Continue to Face Complications due to Contaminated Water - Jeff and Rhonda Locker look out across a cut alfalfa field. Newly cut rows of alfalfa stretch into the distance. Clean mountain air blows down… 
From Homesteads to National Parks, unchecked Oil and Gas development threatens North Dakota - The west brought the Ashleys a sense of solitude and freedom, however, the peace they once knew has since been disrupted by an oil well that was put in at the base of their driveway. 
Working to Prove Accountability: A Hydrogeologist’s Perspective on the Pavillion Water Crisis - Mike Wireman, a hydrogeologist, has spent the last five years trying to understand what is causing the Pavillion water crisis in relation to oil and gas development. 
Colorado Community Members use their Voices to Protect the Health and Safety of their Community - Battlement Mesa Prepares for a Continued Fight for Safer Drilling Practices When Bonnie Smeltzer moved to Battlement Mesa in 2002 at the age of 74,… 
Bonding Crisis Looms in Colorado as Gas Prices Tip Into the Red - Residents of Battlement Mesa and Rifle, Colorado, are on the verge of seeing gas companies abandoning their wells and leaving taxpayers to clean up the… Continue reading → Bonding Crisis Looms in Colorado as Gas Prices Tip Into the Red
Lax Permitting, Poor Construction Lead to Groundwater Contamination - Thirty years after faulty gas wells and unlined holding ponds began contaminating groundwater, residents of Pavillion, Wyoming, still can’t drink the water. Sue Spencer, a… Continue reading → Lax Permitting, Poor Construction Lead to Groundwater Contamination
Working for Clean Desert Air - “My name is Kristin Winn. I live in Grand Junction Colorado. I have lived here for about 22 years. I grew up in Chicago where… 
Forging Allyships in a Time of Adversity - I’m Wayne Lax from, originally, Detroit, Michigan. We moved to Wyoming in 1999 and have been here ever since. We had no knowledge or background… 
Standing Rock and Environmental Racism - Angie: “My name is Angie McGinnis I’m an organic vegetable farmer. My farm is located in Mandan North Dakota and I’m originally from Bismarck…