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A public health study found that Colorado children living within eight miles of an oil and gas well had an increased risk of developing leukemia, and the study’s authors determined current setbacks between well sites and houses may not be enough to protect kids
The study, published in May 2025, sounded an alarm for communities surrounding well sites, and it got the attention of the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission, the state body that regulates the oil and gas industry
The commission assembled a panel to review that report along with two others that looked at how exposure to oil and gas fracking impacted the people who live near well sites. They spent eight months reviewing the findings and released a 15-page report in June
However, the report did not reach any conclusions as to whether Colorado’s rule requiring oil and gas sites to be at least 2,000 feet from the nearest home is sufficient to protect people’s health. Nor did it make any policy recommendations, leaving the commission’s critics to wonder just how much evidence is needed to effect change
“It’s a good first step. But what’s missing here is what is the action that will come from these findings and from putting time into this work,” said Guadalupe Solis, who served on the commission’s panel and is director of public health and advocacy at Cultivando, a community health nonprofit that is active in Adams County
Meanwhile, oil and gas industry representatives welcomed the review, saying it is important for Colorado regulators to follow science
Carly West, executive director of the American Petroleum Institute Colorado, said the review reinforced confidence in the state’s 2,000-foot setback rule
“The evidence doesn’t support changing Colorado’s existing regulatory framework at this time,” she said
While no policy changes will be forthcoming, the ECMC is accepting public comment on its Public Health Studies Review until Aug. 7. Comments may be submitted online at bit.ly/4gT1dHx
The commission’s review reflects the nature of scientific research and how different parties can interpret results differently, based on their interests. Long-term studies are complicated and nuanced, rarely producing definitive conclusions. And that can make it hard for policymakers to enact change even as critics grow antsy over increasing public-health concerns
Energy and Carbon Management commissioner Trisha Oeth said during a Tuesday night public meeting that she convened the panel after seeing the reports and hearing from the community
She recruited 14 people, including medical doctors, scientists, state regulators, an industry representative and public health experts from the community, to meet with the researchers and ask questions
She wanted the commission to understand the science, but she never intended for the group to make policy recommendations
“It does not change ECMC rules,” Oeth said. “It doesn’t make permit decisions, and it does not say that every health question has been answered. We certainly did not take that on.”
Instead, the panel recommended further study of the cumulative risks of oil and gas development and what it means for people who live near multiple well sites
And that frustrated those who live near the sites and have been fighting for better public health protections
‘We need to keep paying attention’
Laurie Anderson, a Colorado field organizer for Moms Clean Air Force, said she believes that Oeth had the right intentions when she called for a panel to review the three studies
But Anderson said the commission, the oil and gas industry and the public are looking for a definitive study that will answer everyone’s questions as to how far apart oil and gas development and neighborhoods should be
“They just so badly want to justify that 2,000-foot setback and that everything is going to be OK,” Anderson said
Anderson started fighting oil and gas development after moving to Broomfield in 2015, and she said there is mounting evidence that fracking operations cause illnesses, both long-term and short-term
She is growing tired of various government agencies waiting on a definitive study while continuing to issue drilling permits
“They just continue to permit,” Anderson said. “Pretty much they’re going to frack anything in this area before they get the study that says, ‘Whoops, we weren’t as protective as we should have been.’”
During Tuesday night’s informational session on the health panel’s findings, Dr. Jacob Fox, a pulmonologist at UCHealth who studies respiratory disease and climate change, said the leukemia research was an “excellent study.” It showed an association between childhood leukemia and fracking, and it adds to a growing body of evidence that fracking emissions are associated with childhood cancer
Still, it did not determine a safe distance for families with children, Fox said
“It’s something as community members we need to keep paying attention to,” he said
William Allshouse, one of the paper’s authors, said it’s nearly impossible to make a definitive link between fracking and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which mainly affects children between the ages of 2 and 5. That’s because the scientists were not measuring the actual pollutants the children were exposed to
That would require more air monitors and more money, he said
“This is the best we can do with the available information to build that body of evidence,” Allshouse said. “We can’t say this pollutant is causing this cancer at this distance. If we’re going to continue to drill these large sites, they should be monitored to see what’s coming off the well pad to protect the people that live near them.”
Still, Allshouse said he was glad to see the ECMC look at the study
“Obviously I would like to see things happen more quickly, but I’m glad it’s not getting lost either,” he said
Examining three studies
The leukemia paper was one of three 2025 studies reviewed by the panel
A May 2025 study by the Environmental Defense Fund and Colorado State University looked at the cumulative health risk of the Front Range’s ozone pollution and volatile organic compounds released by oil and gas sites. That study found acute health risks persist even when best management practices exist, and recommended that drilling and well construction stop during the summer ozone season, which stretches from June 1 to Aug. 31
“There are limits to how broadly we can apply this finding,” Oeth said. “The sites studied had specific practices, and oil and gas practices were changing during the study period, which is very common in research. So ultimately this study helps us understand risk, but it certainly doesn’t answer every question for every site. No study can do that.”
A December 2025 study by a CSU researcher measured air pollution and noise exposure at oil and gas development in northeastern Colorado’s Denver-Julesburg Basin. It was funded by the Health Effects Institute
That study found that noise around wells is a concern and that benzene is the greatest air pollutant risk, but it did not identify any chronic health hazards during operations at the tested sites
That result bolstered the industry’s arguments that a 2,000-foot setback is enough to protect nearby residents
“One of the things the review reinforced was confidence in Colorado’s setback requirements,” said West, of the American Petroleum Institute. “The hope is always that the regulations you put into place achieve what you want to achieve.”
Oeth repeatedly reminded the audience at Tuesday’s meeting that the commission’s review did not settle every scientific question
“It’s meant to help the public, help the ECMC as an agency and help our partner agencies better understand what these studies found, what they did not prove and where more work is needed,” she said
Colorado needs to follow California’s lead and take a more comprehensive look at research that studies the connection between oil and gas drilling and public health, said Dr. Sara Carpenter, executive director of Healthy Air and Water Colorado
“What concerns me the most about the ECMC report is it’s not that thorough,” Carpenter said. “I think it was a great idea to convene a panel and say, ‘Let’s look at this.’ But it’s only three studies.”
In 2024, the California Geologic Energy Management Division released a 523-page report after a 15-member panel it commissioned reviewed thousands of studies on oil and gas production’s impact on public health and then picked 72 from across the United States and Canada to focus on
The panel concluded that enough evidence existed to show that oil and gas operations cause respiratory diseases such as asthma and perinatal health problems such as low birthweights, preterm births and congenital abnormalities, Carpenter said. And California clearly stated that its findings would be used to make policy decisions. It reinforced the state’s 2022 decision to make setbacks a minimum of 3,200 feet
More research has been conducted since that paper was released, and Colorado could have picked up the torch and added to the body of work, she said
“If this bleeds into inaction at a policy level, that’s a problem,” Carpenter said. “Why reinvent the wheel? I think these guys reinvented a spoke.”
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