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iLmannCbrglti_~~14 C.CI)m Chronicl~Nc~~s 'fhc Brimctnnc Rnttlcs Discttccion Forvm
Pc~igo~a in P~~ra€lise
ReMitlents .a~~s operators of geothermal power plant are committing
sulfuric ~acrilegt~ in goddcs~' garden
Pf~'i.1 !%i41RI('I, Hao,aii phis is
the realm ul I'cie, title! goddess of
la.~ °~i's roli:,rnoes ~usn
i it,~.c ~,h,, hu~c !iced on the Rig `
I t~
nr,d s m tm "nn t
c, eca ot~el
R
i 3
hen Iec! the presence of the
intpulsi~ c dt.ity, who., iegcnd has tt,
doe; nrn tale kindh tt~ man-made ~ t~,<"u ill
'h~ ~ir~ns [~cli;~~ers go to the rim
~i,u g~h~ing Kilauea crater to
~~~akt~ ~,17i:!in i:~ her :and give.
J,anks.
Lasa flows from the Pu'n O't'o ~cnt nn the southern slope of
f' as against (his rny~.f seal Kilanrt volcano on tltc island of I~tawait. Kilauea is ooe oflhe
hack;":pop[hat anonterpriseL.nown mustaelise~olwnoesinlheworld.emitting?~u<efihous~mdsof
as I't~na Geo'bennal Venture sortsefsulGtrtiiosidceach~.ru •.Y.~tf~E RECFNED
(PGA'; hegan hunching holes in B
r~ .
11at~..t:i'; hlar_k ~olcan~c rock in i')90
Coun}y Council
D~scinle_ ,~I`Pcic warn-'4S tr:~r such drilling was blasphemous and invited r I'~. '
n~' f~<iCSy N~11( iUN. ar.l ~~:(\It}~ Crtttnutied (C a ~IJI) m11hUn, G541lPgaV,~~2t 1:'c:~il'~~.1 i?lal
p~,~~,, pi,ant Uta* wr,uld praducc elFCtricity from subsurt2ce heat, hastening dc~.-elopment in
.~•te r~r'.h~: '<<'. irlati~~rlc !;ndi.''u` ~d hc~ckets of the island
~
i'cle ~ .acted her re~~c;.,,e r ~nai;,~; a mat!cr t+f dispute. Phis, much, ho~4c~er-can be
:.d
~c,n-.c re~~~lc~:i,. of the lush and cclecti. P~.,. ~ District arc amcinced that hydrogen su;tide
~,,<<,i~: ;',.c PGA' well field and ~rr~ r i~lant is making them iil.
_~n(1 ti~:Zt` 3 l~r~lnil rlc;n[ Tcv.u. Ic`~farChe((,'n )fin nll1CS 10 dOCltmC71[ II1C Ceslrjf'tl[5~
n,ptom~. in he,hrs of adcencing knowled ;r an utsidio~.ts chemical, he caused an
r.i~i~e al of ih~, ,af l la„airs hcatls,rone _SOduc
l'~; nee er cncnnnterrd anything rluite like it," ~,=tr' Dr .~1an~in I.egatur, director of tLc
17~~isi,~n nt~f rn ~~~nnmcntai Tr~~ico!og~ at the 1.'nnenity of Texas 1ledical Rraneh in
~ ; , i,,_, nn
Submitted by Jon Olson at the County Council's December 3, 1997
meeting regarding Aill 143 - Geothermal Asset Fund appropriation
bill Coma, llw ''~G ~S-
H11e 11a.,~~~~ i ~ r'-
co~ ~ u~
- ~e -he r, n~tona Peales http lMxvw chror„~'nlco~-anVChroniciemabonrntvnawan .~:m~
t ~.•scator. 'l, •.vas accustomed to iunFlict, having often sided witn community ,roue, that had
' a~~
use.i t~~~~a~rful co,pc~rations of environmental nusdeeds and government agencies of
inerdihtde
fs~.rt~'n ha >tandards, h±~wcver. the ofFcial reception in 1lawaii was chilly It seemed that the
,xa~ ux~s ho a ante) ltim here ,acre the people of Lcilani Lstates, a rustic subdiv ision just
spa;tL ;,f the ~~':,ihcrnial pliant
Most s~.r,~•rnment anal husiness':eadrrs were?ess than convivial, PGV was a pet project,
hi,_•;;ed b~; luminaries °:uch as l ~ S Sen. Llaniel Inouye, and Legator was in a position to spoil
it `,t nne point; there was rrlk of undersea cables that wo~.dd carry 500 megawatts of
t•1ccu~irl;p to tourist-satur.tted Oahu and'btaui_ inot:}e even suught Cedcral funds fer the
~~r:~jeCt_ but it went nowhere
II} the tiute Legator erder,d the picture in 1046, some of the Leilani Lstates residents already
had ~~rganizcd into a group called Puna Alalama Pono (rough translation. Protect the
(;ocduc_s ot'Punal.
Chey ..ad ~.<,rnplained Cor yeas ab,~ut lethargy, dizziness, insomnia, vomiting, diarrhea -the
-cry symptoms that are associated with ehronic hydrogen sulfide exposures in the medical
literature and that Legator himse?f had observed near a synthetic-ntbber plant in the West
Tetras city of Odessa.
~ ~ 1.e~ator is amon ~ a handful of researchers intri ~r~ed
ss ' °M w-ith the rlTects of minuscule -and purportedly
' safe- levels of hydrogen sulfide on the human body
° r over a period of months or years
"Tt's so ubiquitous, and ~.e've had so much
misleading information out there a.hout it," he said.
"Ifyou survive (an exposure), nothing's going to
happen to you that's the dominant theory held
F._~,..;,;.hc;`•1anu,Lcg.,ipr~.~plaiu5,,health lada}~.
;,:r~ : ~ ~f r~cLi, n!- nc;u the Pun:, Genthcrnal
. , ~Iln;_ rLln~n; the i.;o ~.Iand G.+_ncc "'ill thl' Ci'gl1lalUi'y agfnC.CS 5t111 hOli.i t0 that ~dmC
r'onfer~_n.c nt 1he Vn,~:r-,n of If.,",,? crap- The whole house ufcards collapses on them
when you shat talking cheat chronic, low-level
~z~poe~ae~_ b~xamse that', ;+heie the probtctns are-"
1-,~r Le_;ainr I l:~~tiaii represartcu an unusual im~cstir,ati~~e oppuitunit~ }1~•;e ~~.~as an i~;,,fated
p;)~;,IialS~~l; Cv}.:OJCti UVl'I' d pll~Ud Ot vCar~ (0 i;Cnerillly $milll f!Ut glliailllhable aln(~tlm5 Ot
!r~~l;r~cn -~..lfidc !t~~~rr1 a kno~,~n ;ours
In a i~>31 :c;snrt !hrce n:icnfi,r; at l.a.~rence I.i~crnrore National Lahuratory in C~aliRnnia.
~C~n~iLh~~_•~' ti13t "111 i:~Otiph?rIC ;~CICa~CS ;~t h~,drnCen 5U~{,(IC CO~15htUte the O~o$t `!Emlf Clint
puhl(r h.:elt1: i.~1,=-.,f~~t~•~•th~~,tral cncn~~ Irrod~.n;tinn," and that carcinogenie an(i neur~~;~»;ic
,~~~~IIF '-.l;i F: L~ 1'enLC:nC ftf ~c'PIC Im e;iUrv and radon also COmld bC I';'!t[-teed 3l ~ 't Cl..
Hus;^.C~+,:n,de cam ~ i ~t drat stone Kettles '
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e
Ttv:., Legator', research ass,~ciates went on a scouting expedition to the Puna Uistrict in
!~~arch i9o6, conducting interv~icws with V9 people Legator made his first visit at the
beginnutg of this gear and announced !us prefiminar}~ findings- sympton>_, consistent with
hydrogen sulfide e.~posurr-at a Jan 9 news conference at the University of I tawaii at Hilo
Legator thought hi had made it clear that more work needed to be done He realized that
something was seriously amiss, however, when he read an article in the Jan. 12 edition of the
Ha~~aii 'Cribune-I{erald
The headline was, "Otticial Health Surv~eY Bogus "The story quoted Bruce Anderson.
cfepu!v diiectur of the stare Department of Health in Honolulu, as saying that the results of
any survey Legator conducted would be inherently biased because the subjects were rabidl~~
anti-geothermal anif had years to bone up on the effects of hydrogen sultde
The attacks didn't stop there. On'~farch 26, a PGV official appealed to Wiftiam Cunningham,
chan~~illor of the University of'Te.xes System in Austin-
"^i:~~, iy ~,~rrprised and disappointed that the University of Texas would knowin,~t allow its
ay=
fine name to be attached to a health survey' of [he type produced by Dr. Legator," wrote Jark
Dean. the cenhne's vice president and general manager
Dean lid not re.nond to Chrurirle mtcrview request; Legator said that he felt no pressure
from either the university or the National Institute for Emironntental Health Sciences-~.vhictr
tund~ ~~°esearch centers at C`T1113 and '_5 other universities-to discontinue tus•work in Ha~~aii
5 (l, he was so put off by the experience that i e asked the Gollegium Ram~zini, an
n? ~tariuntil association of public-heahh researchers, to consider forming a defense
umuuttee fo* scientists bro•,~beaten by industr,
Legator and his associates have not tinishcri thtir analysis of the complete Puna Dhlrl~l
survc~., ~!ice.n to people ~+ho fno near I'GV' and 58 members ofa control group in tlilu. 2C~
miles a;~av
Nonetheless, l.egaror said that nt~rny mernbers of the "exposed" group appea;~ to !race been
impaired h}' hvdntgen s~tl idc "The vast majority-alnnrst 90 percem-are shooing ne.urotox~c
effects," he said
in an intcr`~rrw, Anderx~r. sari drat Legator "essentially recruited indi~ir'lualt, •.iith F`unwr:
prejudices ag:+in;t gee-therrrtal prover development in Hawaii
t)bsu;usl~~ ifvou asf~ pent-ie who arc upset abo~.ri adevelenment aCtivily ifthcy feel rt~~c~."~•:~
been afl~crcd, they're g~,:ng to te!I you the~~ have
~~ft ihf rC'3 a 11edlltl prVi Cr!1 t10 ~"~1 lhCrC, '.AC~CC t2,Ol nl~' IJ takC aci!on SO eddr e~) C}. a...~"'~~. -_'n
~~ndfr Aril ,;lld ~~tt it ;llc3 rl> >l i~!r~~l _ dl,~~~R tP(~~'}, a~. Qtit It (l~e;~BIDO i;- ;I~al'1[L"~,.j, f
needlessly that's riot euud situatr~m either "
e.~G~_7F~C. h',,'!GR ~Cttl -The tifl!nStOne bGIG25 t ~ r
hitpLwwwchi omlcon.enJchronicfelne0om`t,?vhzr-;~,~btini
The ~a~,a in the Puna Dist!~ict hc~nn in December 1975, when the first sell was drilled f~>r i?~e
state am Hawaii Geothcmiai Ptr.>ject, an rxpcrimental, three-ntegarvatt power plant ?car
Leilani L'stales that went on line in 1981
Alm<~st from the start, residents complained about the rotten-egg stench, a sure sign shat
hydr~~gen sulfide was prCSeni.
H<~wcver, when the crate Health ilepartment compared the one-year prevalence of illness in
Leilani Estates with that in Hawaiian Beach tistates, a subdi~~ision farther front the plant, it
found no compelling differences although it said that more of the Leilani L- talcs reside~~t~
see~ued to sutTcr from wilds
The experimental plant :vas closed in December 1989. But geothermal was far from dead on
the Big Island
Plans were made to drill into the East Rift Zone of the acti~~e Kilauea ~~olcanu. Transmission
lures would slice through the uxtienng Ohio trees of the Wan Kele O Puna {Green Foust of
Puna), the Last majt~r rain forest in the !~`nited States
Nathc ]tawaiians and sympathetic em i~unntentalists were enraged by what they considered
to be the supreme act of sacriEege, a defifemenl of Pele herself.
"lf nu ether place in the world is like this, it has to stay like ~
this," said Palikapu Dedman, president of the Pole Uelcnse
Fund. which organised lar~!e prntos[s against the A
undersea-cable project s'
b
The Su-~~ear-nld Dedman is a fisher man and cofTcc gr~>r~~cr
w}'n~ talcs his rclibirxts beliefs serioush_ Ile likrna
,eotacrnus{ drilling In sacred area= to the sacking of a
Chrictiar. church
"Our rclr~ir7n is sornethinc you can sec and feel," Dedman
said as he crouched on tf~e edge ~~f the Kilauea crater, in
whet is now ?fa~~aii Volcanoes National Part. Steam
wafted from cracks in thr ea,th around him proof; he said,
*.hat the volcano is a lip ing thing
The first PG~~ wel! waS drilled in !ntc 1990, with the Palikapu Dedman, head of the Pclr
biessin ~ of In,~~~.rye, thy. seasoned Democrr,tic senator and I~fcnse Fund, calls geothermal
1~ acid N,'sr 11 hero dulling n sacrilege
Inuu•,c had msde no secret ;if his Ihndncss for gcothcunal energy He e~tulled it on the flour
of the Senate on June 27. 1 ~~r'0, notin}~ that Hawaii depended on 130,+)00 barrels of imported
UI; (7e( ~;i~ an,t ^Cided :i .a eII'1 et, n10rC `Ci~;lb~C ~OU1.C Uf e?CCg~~ as IRSLITa?tC
ins !ettr~ to th; Ge~_,thrmial Resources Cnuncif dated Oct 1991. Inouye declined an
~r.~, r..~.t ~.~n l~~ t'~c thi E,c~ n:rte ~j'c~~ihci at the en~up~s anni:,;l mrcung but pronux~ hb wn[i:aic.1
; = qr,^i„<, http !lwvrw chron comJCOntentlc`aonie{elnat;on~~2;,rhanaa.h~,~'
supl ,
"Gro{h~ nrlal fs the mo=.t !echnicall~ znd cconvmicahy feasible and environment:ilic saI<~
ener~~, source Hawaii ha. at tts dispc>sa!," the senator wrote He failed to mention that a
thurdssing weh blo•,cuut at PG4' had sent a plume of hydrogen sulfide into the Puna District
four months earlier
Wilton Lioddard, a consultn~~ enEtincer front Lucerne, Calif, who has eonductcd peril>dic
artats ~,e~. of PGA sin:: 1 OSa, ;<zid that there is nothing inherently sinister about geothermal
"If it's done right and in the right location, it can be benign," Goddard said "Geothemlal in
{a~caii is a eery' powerful resource, with a very high percentage of hydri~gcn sulfide. The
ttiston of that (PGV) deaetopment, unfortunately, has not been good "
PGV' is cir,tly owned b} Ormat [ nerg} Systems, an Israeli compan}~ with an office in Sparl.,,
Nev.. and I3altimora Gzs R Electric
The plant. whose output ha, ~sen from ?5 to 30 megawatts, collects about Ri)O,OllO pt~unds
of ~uthermal fwi~~ (in essence, water heated b}' molten rockj per hour from !wo wells 'The
fluid is ,eparated into steam, which is sent tq a turbine to produce electricity and brine, which
is injec~ ,i as waste into three other wells ll}arogen sulfide lerels in excess of $00 parts prr
millio~l 1~a, ti peen measured in the vapor from one of the wells
Amung the i_ei)ani Ea!ates recidcnis tsho blame 1'GV fur their poet health, few hss•e suife~~d
as n;uch ax the Harnsons_ who moved here in 1956 from Southern California Both Dtu, 46,
„rid Kate, 36, say that !hc}~ arc lethargic and hstae had r}sh removed from ;heir nasal
pas>as:es Like several other ,women in the nciuhborhood, Kate has had double mensU»ai
wcle. and sore, fibrous breasts Dru often has blurred vision
The three Harrison children Tirieanrra, 1 i,
Tyler, 5, and Kaili, 6 have experienced
high fevers, abdominal pain and other
ba8ling conditions Out r;toruing not long
ago. Kaiii, whip was born a month before.
the June 19'11 well blowout, got out of bell
and collapsed in a heap
"She said, 'It teels like. my legs aren't the:c.
Dad,"' Dru I Ianison said lIe had tc care
her for the hi•ucr part of twi, day's a., she
Bn. un;. N_u a-oc 'adds ~:;i In ~ siliwl ~ourn.i, :~i~ouul
.1 1~~_~ ,8[icuS :uh!iC:11~ w Ilt~ hPl. (i VIL iCtl_ Y~C ~`«di'n,~ S1.0 AA ly CC~alned her ab!lity t(1 wal6 i lte
famil dc~rtor att rihutcd 'net tem(xir:u)
~i~ i.i }i•il~ r I:,u1~ :nd woth~r t~atc }
paral~;is to viral cramhins
~~Iu~t l,~ Lc' ~iiR~U^l~ ihl~ +)vt'C and ~1YC? d~ 11n v4ah )OUC Clllidlfli- }'t):1 tl'Ci vl ~lO;~iflti'.~ x19!1
11 irl ACT.
4LI I` '~.t;ti LfS ~ ?:b~ t'. c'f 1-`. ~':I-•. J,~I tLnie,L tci '.~•_~„d„ 1i~~ wi(luu ti~.. ,1 •h.~
u _.o„ 'hee~~r~sWn_,a,,c htt l/vwwC~~_~~ r ~ ~.;,2,
D t om, unter.vchrcni_Ie/n6_ro:da: ..,,,_~,.h+,;;,
PGA' fence in a neigh~,orhoc~d called Lanipuna GarJens Anoth,:r ersuvhiic Californian
Martino~7clt frets about cnuisions fiom the plant and has become one of its most ~ocl?ciou~
critics
"1'hc state has invested so much money in seducing developers otrt here," she said `°f11!'t're
prostituting f lawaii to the hishest bidder."
119artinuvich and the other ;'una tifalama Ptrno members pace been mocked as countercu?rise
ne'er-Jo-wells who oppose atl economic de~clopntenl
To be sure, they arc an idiosyncratic let, a blend ofdark-skinned nati: cs and pale refugees
Frvm the mainiantl h7arijuana plank occasionally-can be spotted amid the te~uxt's I~rns and
papaya trees. Pahoa, the district's dominant town, is a colorful, slightly ram-down harruet
ucoeative of the late I9GOs
"It's arroeance, a !ut of it," Leilani Estates resident
Geoth La.tii. said of the genthcrmal boosters. "The
low!:fi Puna can't tell them what to do "
"They're trying to label this conununity a hunch of
radixstls." said an indignant Chantcle Singleton, the
UT~tf3 ~.~utrcach coordinator assisting legator
with hi symptom survey.
Lega;,~r was ene~uraged to come to }lawaii by a Aurora Manino~ ich keeps an eye ou the Pun.;
colleague t1r Janette Sherman An internist in Geothermal Venture from tLc (cv.rclinc
Among PGV's most ~ocat criues, Martino~ich
Ale+candria, A'a., who for years saw patients in the belicces the plant is emitting unhca{tnful
islands, She nnan conducted a health xutiey of 71 levels of htdrogcn sul[iAe
people for' a lawsuit filed against PGA' by sumo of
the Leilani E~.tates residents
She noted in a 1993 report that many of the subjects comp]ained of recurring ailment.: such
shortness of breath, swoller, glands, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea
Perhaps more significantl}~, S 3 percent reported neuropsychiatric problems depression,
ansiet}, sleeplessness-that had long been linked to hydrogen sulfide exposure "This
represents an epidemic!" Sherman wrote "[f dtis incidence were re nod for a conununiaablc.
dis~~a>e, a stare of emergency would he declared."
Le~_atot suhmittcd a study proposal "Assisting a Cotmnunity Exposed to Emissions from a
Geothermal Plant" to the emironmcntal health sciences institute's Gah~eston center m'v9arrli
19~~5 and was awarded a $5,000 grant two months later
Hcas'onChronide com - TT~.e ~r~ms'.ane E3attles -
http ~Miwvo, n com'conten'Jchrcnfde/nab~~tn °,n.,.N,,, ,
A[ a scientific conference. at the L:ni~ersity
ofHawaii-fliio in April, he explained the
rationale behind his symptom sutley "lt's
r?othing very much more than a physir;an
taking a medical history so he };Wows where
to gu It's a springboard tix a nu,rc tutu;c,',
study."
5onte attribute the Vona District illnesses, u•
the isfard's naturally occurring volcanic
Graffiti painted on Pahoa-Pohaiki Road nc~t [o the Bases
Puna Geothermal Venttue smtx>li~es the feelings oC
mam of the plant's neighbors. Residents of the Lcilant °Emis;ions front the volcano n?a4e e ~ try
Estates subdis ision blame their illncsxs on hydrogen other artthropvger:iC SUUrCC pale b;
sulfide relwses from the faciht} comparison," Andes-son said
Le~~utur, howe~ror, noted that these gates consist primarily of sulfur diuside, which affech t1<~_
body differently than hydrogen sulfide. The former tends to cause respiratory distress, the
latter disrupts the central nen~ous system
A 199t> report by~ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suggested that P(iV was a
signiucant source of hydrogen sulfde The agency published a list of 19 releases from the
welts and the plant between February 1991 and May 1993, among these was a monstrous
blac~out of well KS-3 that began on.lune 12, 1991, and lasted 31 bouts
Goddard, the consultant, concluded that the blowout was PG1"s doing, not an unavoidable
act of nature. and well ILS-8 was plugged
Donna a 30-minute cleanout ofwcll KS-9 on Peb 8, 1993, hydrogen sulfide levels again
soared- sickening nvo plant workers and five ponce officers off stte
In its report, the EPA criticized PG V's air monitoring and emergency plarming :end thi state
Health Deparunent's supenisiori of those activities.
h noted that the EPA's San Francisco office had lodged a complaint against PCiV for darling
tc report the 1991 acrd 1993 releases to ;he National Response Center, and that state and
local officials had not reeeiced timely inConnation about these incidents-
1n an intcrsicu at hi, otlice in Hii;?, Ha?~aii County Civi! Defense _Adminisuauir 11am~ Kirn
expres,ed regret and re~.ulsion over what he charac!erized as a go~er?unent debacle
"SVhen i lca~ ~ this job, the lowest hn~ trill be our Cailure to protect the people ith n-~;.ud tc
geuthcrmaL" Kim said
The I')91 blowout "shoald nut hose happened, would not have happened ift;o~~crnmcnt Isad
fo!k~.tcd up on its resportsibili?ie,." kim said "7 his sti~as a life-threate!ung :iu?atiun, nut ;i
mcnm.enienc~ "
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Ask~~;i hi.; opinion ~ ~f i.egat:~~'s hralth sutve:, he said. 'The credibility of a~unty~overnment
and state gorernmcnt ~m thi, issue is zero That's ~~hy the University e£Te~~as is here "
Throbs have been s.;tuel~,hat quieter at PGA' the past few years The~~e. trace been ne blo~~"ut~,
ahhou ~h the plant's: neighbors say that tticy~ still smell pungent odors-mainly at ni~ttt and
wiirr, ab~,ut ~ontunious, lo+x-lccel hydrogen sulfide entissions_
"[t'r.ji,ist there all the time," said Barbara Dettweiler, whip tires kith her husband..Sl, n!iuut
halF mile away "It literalh Jrie t,ip your throat and chokes you "
Adna3t t3:uber uai ~.~rrkirg in his Spartan o(1ice, just be}'ond the PGV fence, during the 19x.3
well-cieanout. Itc ctperienced wkiat oil Feld workerz ca(1 a "knockdo~;n" froth the hydrogen
sulfide
"There ~tias no wa~ni~~g." said Barber, a B,itir.h-born lurmer rock 'd roll record producer ":11i
:.udder., the +vhele world turned vertical. R disoriented me; t'm cragsling across this
certi..~a~t ;urCuee :o get tip the door. I was v~ citing There was ringing in my ears "
Fiarh~r ;~;esidunt ~~t Puna ~lalama Punic. is acerbic urd ficrcel,r prolectiac of his adoptrd
homy
"N'e are the poorest island, and this is the poorest corner ufthat island," he said Bene~ith the
2r;u~r,i.1. hr,e~ecer, lie pockets of600-degree ~sater ~',ith she potential to produce colossal
arnf~~.~nt ~ of unrrgY-
.Althouith the Puna Gi~,tiict has not become the "industrial hell" Ba~~e; ,~nr' . ~c ttea•':,~or
Cearfull} cnvisior~ed ~shW~~, the first PGA' ~tei! uas drilled seven yearn «g. tne~ ' ..ce nt~t Ict
down their ~~,uard
Some h: lie ~ that it~ Pl~~' sullers no n-~ore a;;:i;~r mishaps, if Puna Malama Pcrv can he held at
ba}. h;. pi.,r~~~r~1 SOCK-mege~catt'r~.iathan might be revived by the developers
;icy ~ c ~,ot enough hrst in this ~,~h::ano to make many powurfut men rich beyond thew
wiWc,; dreams," Barhrt paid
Baca. in tot>
,Ur; EF,"t rna i?<„chance `.o regt,late hydroGen:>UI":~ia http l~wrw chroncomlcontenilchror,~cle/papell9'~1110~ r"r~sr~am F.:~nl
"iGP 1//N!V)-
i-.i)S1i OP~O~'tUTI{fy
x:[5.1 had its chance to regulate hydt•oben sulfide
Z3y Jt~l ~?1OIti21
Cop}rip,tst 199'; ~,r;~ 1997, Houston Chrcroicle
15, 19')0, was ;tr. agreeable da~~ at the ~'hitc f fouse, a reprieve for George Bush, who had been
.upied with the Iraqi irtvasion of Kuwait
a cro~R~ded Fast Room ceremony, Bush signed thr Clean Air Act of 1990, an unwieldy piece of
4tron t?tat, among other things, provided for a methodical and far-reaching assault on to~,ic air
t.~.c:; yn~tc;i,~an expects and dcsen-es to breatht~ clean air," the president said as congressional and
t:nt ironroenta, . . t~:rs looked on approvingly
`;oleo ~~ear latci, the t~deral govermnenYs cntsade against air toxics is more or Icss on schedule- New
c~ntrt~l5 ate in piare, ur soon will he, for 188 of the most fearsome substances released in this country
Ona virulent and pervasive chemical, however, fell through the cracks, over the objections ofgovei~~rntent
•cienti,t. and public-interes± groups- It was a casualty of an inconspicuous deal struck between Congress
a_.J an oi? nuiustr1 facing potentially expensive regulations.
f~kte ~hcmical is hvd~ "rn sulfide (H'_'S), a ford, explosive gas that smells like rotten ems and attack, the
central ner.ous sys! sometimes to lethal effect.
An 1 I-mouth f louston Chrouiele imestiga(ion su~ests that iLs deletion in 1990 from a federal
I lam ardour Air Pollutant list was a seriorts error although hardly an oversight --whose fill
co~,serlt:ences have }rt t:; be realized
Already the gas has disrupted tens of thousands of lives in places as diverse as Lvs Angeles and Contra
Costa Count', Calif ,Corpus Christi, t3eaumont, Pasadena and C)chiltree County, Texas, Tulsa and
Guymon, Okla , Detutit and'~3anistee, Mich , L)akota City, Neb , Artesia, N ht ,Pleasant Hill, Ark .
Codivville, Kan ,and the Puna Di,tnct of 1 lawaii
A reiem rvann:!c On Sept i8, a hydio;en sulGdc leak from the Quaker Chemical Co plan; in f?etroit
sent 4~ people of~them students at an elementary school a mite away to hospitals with natascu.
he.adache~ and vomitin~~ A Quaker of~iciat described the release, which also sickened ai least si.x plant
,.,;F.~i>, as "minur
r of many indus(risl and agricuhura! processes --oil and natural gas exuaciion and refining.
°~~rin~ .human and .minial ~sa~tc ucatn~cnf h}'dr.,gen sulfide can kil! in a few second. if
- : _~:,i concentrations-
!r,•~ .r - .:~<<_ hrada.hes, fatieue n;cmor,~ 1055. ins~,mnia. depres:;io~:. nau>ea, dpi<~n;as
cos; Fai.r,,r~ EPF Had r char~~a to r?~ulete by ' den sat8de Mtp /Iwww,chron corr ~tenUchron~cle/ a et!37,"t 1 i0^rn ~ -
P 9 o.rs..tmn .~~imi
re-ltiiratory p;~oblems and e}•e irritation
Although studies puL7tished in the past decade indicate, lhat hydrogen sulfide is harmful in e~~tren;efy fuw
doses, the li-S Ln~, ironntental Protection Agency and most states, including Texas, have done little to
c;onhol it.
Attempb at regulation have met with fierce resistance from industry, which has argued success6.rily thta
the chemical poses only intenruttent risks
As a result, hydrogen sulfide may he the least-regulated common poison in the C'nitrd States, a situation
drat has forced some of those affected by it to Turn to the courts for help
' ~nh•; hearing on .~pri1 28, a Michigan judge condemned that state's Department of
Environment>:: r!cu'ity fur failing to protect the public from leaking "sour" oil and gas wells and pipelines
these tainted with hydrogen sulfide
"w'hu in the hell stands for the public health?" asked Circuit Judge Jarnes Batzer, presiding in a lawsuit
tiled by rural Filer 1"o~~nship against two independent exploration companies "`rL'hat du we have a
total abdication in this state?"
hydrogen zulfide we ,_i :,eem to meet the federal government's legal definition of s hazardous air
pollutant A compou~.a r:gat presents or may present "through inhalation or other routes of exposure, a
threat of adverse human health effects . or adverse environmental effects as a result of emissions to
the air "
fhe law re:;_'res that runsideration be given to chemicals that may cause cancer, binh defects,
neurological damage or reproductive impairment. Such chemicals may be either acutely or chroniatly
tm:ic
4nd yet when the EP,3 put ltychogen sulfide on the Itazarduus :4ir Pollutant list, the oil industry lobhied
successfulh t« hay ~ it removed. Chemicals tar less prevalent, if not lass toxic, stayed vr.
"It was a political deal-" said a former CPA official, who asked nut to he identified "Companic~ i? Tca~as
wear ~erc successrid m remt~cim~ {hydrogen sulfide) from the list because of its presence in the c~-tractir,n
of coil because of that and the voting bloc there.
"St ;Heels the criteria (for listingi There's m, question it tricots the criteria "
y ng:wa Hughes. an FrP:y air-enforcement officer in Dallas, found the defistin~~ inexpfic;tble.
"1 ~ou!dn't betie~e the. did that," she ,aid thinl. it was a poor scicntificalh base) de.asion, ~>Kimnrefy
poor ~Ce a(l know it is extremely' deadly "
~Fhe curious chars of everts didn't end i? i'~9[> Twc years later, when the F:PA propo.ed that ru.rtinc
cmi<sons ~ri hjdro~;en sulfide merely be reported nut controlled it was threatened with a la~csr.:u'n
rfrc chemical and paper ~r.dustr.e< The ag<•n.y ha!~ked Down in !994
Htrt,~ne_~'.1 h~. ~t rt~~C^ :unl.l tr.1e I_,rrn ~,;°-~cil .t, an rti~+tie u~rup.iu~ual Iraia+.l urLUic Fume, W~
.JSr ~~~Gr' ~ _ I i:, Cu I egUlaie by 'Bn $U~510 h J,'WWV1.GhfOnCOn' B r' ! ~ , r.
t$ t nt1 hron~c.elpa~eLS7ltirpgrh~,rrrain,~:m~
"Ti~ere watt surne question (in 1990) as to ~.,hether hydrogen sulfide was a pervasive enough pollutant.,"
said I3i'~.; 1 t,i~ r.~u. as ;ociate director of the E4'A's Air Qualit; Strategies and Standards Dhis'iun at
~r _ , :::~ar~rzic Part, N C "h was felt that there were very few sources of it."
Th:~'hrur:icle"= ~.udv denrunstrates othertivise
"Thi, stuff is like a>~ ;tug it's everywhere," said Ur Kaye Kilburn, a professor at the t.`niversifv of
tiout`:rern Caliiurnia School of ~iedir.ne who has reported neurological effects unbalance, tunnel
vision, inability to concer5trate from exposures to very low concentrations ufhydrogen suEfidc.
"If we'd had any sec»c, we'd have dune something about it," Kilburn said
Indeed, the che~uical's dangers have been known for centuries One of its elemental components is sulfi~r,
the l-riaistone in biblical descriptions of hell
to his 1862 novel Le.i A4rti~erc~files, French author Victor Huge, was referring to hydrogen sulfide wtter, he
described "slow ast~h~ pia i:y unclean?mess" among workers in the squalid sewers of ['aril
Victims of hti drogert su(tide exposures at a minimum are af}licted with throbbing heads, stinging e}'es acrd
.;horning sromachs Those who have suffered acute exposures do not forget the experience, a nightmarish
fusion of drunkenness and the worst cunccic able bout of stomach flu.
Gai} Co~~'s renumbers stet?ping out the back door of his business, Manistee Auto Electric, tt~ drank a cup
of cufl'ee and enjoy the breeze from nearby Lakc Mictrigan the afternoon uf.Aug 27, t996.
What he got insicad was a whdf of hydrogen sulfide, liberated during the plugging of a sour gas well
about 100 yards a,.va}
'l4'e we n't advised ufan}thing," said Cools. 47 "W'e heard a rush of gas coming from the welllrcad
arcs It sounded like a jet engine "
A white cloud, reeking of rotten eggs driHeJ southeast into Couls's shop and se'.ea3! other busine~se~. ern
Parkdalc Avemre in tifanistee Cools became nauseated and giddy I its eyes burnad, and he couldrr'~ dr :o.
a fidl breath
Cools, hie wife Judy and mne oth,~r people wound r.rp going to the emergency room that day. Cools
cominue~ to rrcei:e trertLncnr for breathing ditticulties, has (rouble sl; eying and has beer weakened ~,ti
repeated respiratun~ mfcctions
f9~r incident in titenisfec last year is among at least i E that have occurred since 1993 in the'~r~~rth~~ti;i~t~:rn
Lut~.r Peninsula. k~~cl} resort area undcr!ain b}~ a deep nalurai gas field cali.d the'~`iagaran Rey:±- In
recent years, the reef ha, attracted a norther of exploration and productic7n companies, most of them
smn~' inda~rn,len~,
t ate r)rl the P~, e!`~ng. Of'~~!?j IZ ?Q'1.~ a $oUC i'az. COnlpreSSGi ~tallUn near LndinglOn. i~~ nlllf'~ Sl'UIi: :U
R1dni~!c,~, `,;c~~ ~:u}.rl fhc Lce~r~r-rfrcn-au ~luud Untt ~sas released acid nru~rd along the l.irn~::u h~~,_i
r,..
~~st -_.,,t _ ohOfice ?o regulate t,, ~gen sut~de ht~:;/wrny.chrOn.corti~~OntenUchrran~delpapeL'~7%1 ?/OyRQs.rna;~ n,,,i,
_ . number ufpeaple ir? its pa(n, including a woman drivinb across a bridge neatly ii~~e miles
a:~..
a.'y ttt~ ncsa dati, Debbie Nickelson and her family awoke with headaches and nausea "We the tight it
~ni..hr `,e ~ hoc." said Nickelson, who runs achy-care center out of her basemont and was preparing 0;
it;; intm~~atr,tt arrival of Eve young children
four of the fig e ware overcame later that morning by hydrogen sulfide, which had accumulated overnight
in toe basement, and were taken to the hospital. The fifth didn't stay long enough to feel any efl°ects
"!t was really srary~," Nickelson said "They were basically just passing out One little girl Lind of went ':o
sleep One little boy passed out on the kitchen fluor, he started to vomit as he passed out I had anotl-~et
little hoy with asthma he was havring great difTiculty breathing."
NO one had hothcred to at n the Nicl.elsons or anyone else about the gas leak, th:;se closast to it
evacuated on their ow r,, out of necessity. ""fhe kids, they play downstairs by themselves sometimes,"
Debbie ;~~ic,l.elson said "V."t,ul;i :hey have died if I hadn't gone down there when I dief'"
[.Irtpubliried, ,a orst-case scenarios developed Iiy some oil and gas companies indicate that the ~tichi~;an
victims there far tuna(..
In a document filed in I'ebruar} with the Texas Railroad Commission, for example, representative:; of the
warren ^!GL Inc sour gas prncesstng plant near the East Texas fount of C-ustace offered theie b•~st guess
about the impacts of a catastrophic pipeline rupture
0. cloud with lethal le, ets of hydrogen sulfide (SOG palls per rnilliun} would move up to •i 3 miles frortt
the pant, the}' predicted, and a 100-ppm loud Capable ofcausing serious illness up tc 9.3 miles
Hy~lt,~gen sulfide need ?ot bG discharged in high concentrations, howevar, to do harm It can, ovctt ri~nr
impair quality t;f life at lei:els deemed safr ba most regulators.
Its v`frnste oih~r nas mined property ,~ah[cs and hteatlly drivr_n pe~~ple from their homes There i5
evidence that ;t';as hampered young students' perf.~nnance in the classroom.
E*.±ren~cl~t corm>i~w, it has consumed barbed-hire fences and thG copper entrails of air co~~didoars ~ln~i
it .ontinues !o kill poorl~~ trained or careless workers
Chrnpan} repurt> ?o the [:PA's Em~.rgenc} Response Notification System show that there wera 1
atciacntal relca.~es ofhydrogcn sulfide nationwide during the first Winn months of 1997. Fifty-four per:cn:
10' of thc~e t~rre i~t Texas.
much mi;;haps aren't the worst of it In Tome parts of the Gauntry, routine, legal hydrogen sulfide
tmis~~ion, d~..n i accidental releases
1;:~ I~+`)~, f.,r example. the old Farmland Inct~.istries Oil refinery in l'ofCGyville, Kan, put out R-1G_t~Cill
D~4. 1!'~ Uf [t1C ~~b_''ili~.l~ tt Uti It Uf thG i7lltiOd;)1 OUP t}dS X111Gd U? thf Cily'S lUw-i71COI17C CH~i ~I (~t'
_F. ,i::~ ~i~~.irt ,:rr t,,_ot~lr, nuux ys~J 'yid. rta Ae~ttc, wig„ runs n ~Iat--care cen?rr ;r the
~ •i 'red ~~ts chance to re u
g ate Eger. sulfide tmp Lrwww chron co. ,ontentichror~iclrlpaget/,7/1 Si091h2,main rm~
nctghbvrhood "lt messes up f~eop(c's roofs and uir conditioners. You can smell it inside •,~our house "
r ast Nocembrr, [-armland paid $1.45 rruilion in penalties to the EPA and agreed to make $4 25 million in
--zii;~,ct) improFCmcnts tv resolsu a titan} vfviolations, among them failure tv promptly report 29
ac.idenial hydrogen sulfide releases, known as "upsets," over afour-year period
F.~r,?~land's output of hydrogen sulfide has fallen since the 1995 peak and is expected tv keep falling tr,
perhaps 40,000 pounds per year only because an expansion project subjects it to new, stricter rules
ia,l the expansion not gone forward. regulators say, the absence of federal and state standards would
ha.c tied their hands
f arrnland is no; an isolated case. Navajo ReFrting Co has been stinking up the southeastern New Mcvicu
town of Artesia f~~r many years. Tha Los Angeles-Long Beach and Bay Area refinery belts in Cal;fvrnia
aze proc;igious sources of hydrogen sulfide, sometimes released in window-shattering explosions
The chemical has repulsed neighbors of an IBP meatpacking plant in Dakota City, Neb ,and the Dvrragcn
synthetic-rubber plant in Odessa Residents of Corpus Christi's "Refinery Row" have learned to
distinguish it from the ether industrial odors that drift into their homes.
Hydrogen sul5de upsets almost always are dismissed as unavoidable accidents and go unpunished by
regulators. although at some plants d;es~ occur so frequently tl;at workers and adjacent residents com;
expect and dread them
The stakes of such releases are high because of the chemical's potency and its propensity for settlnrg, ds
pungent ti~g, in low spots ?sivtvrists has~e been known to pass through such clouds with their windows
up and emerge seconds later gasping and wretching
Still, "people hate a ca~'alier attitude abvrn this chemical," said Dr ;Myron Mehlman, an adjunct
professor of ervirunmental and mmmunit} medicine at the Robert Wcod Johnson School of Medicine
Piscataway, N .l "The;' ahti ays find excuses why we can't regulate it."
In a sort of cvnsc~iativrl prize for public-hrrlih advocates, hvdrvge~~ sulfide w'as proposed f'ot and ;en~ains
on an GPA "ex(remely `razardous substances" list drawn up for the 1990 law
Companies tl•,at store or produce chemicals on this list must develop plans to present and respond to
ac~idrntal r~rle:;ses. Routine emission co:;truls, howcser, aren't part of the picture
:Lore was, in addition. a 199J EPA report to Congress vn hydrogen sulfide discharges associalr~l :citl~~
oil am_l gas production
fhe stud}'s conchrsivn "From the limited data av„iL•.b!e, there appears tv be no evidence that a
;ignif•icant thn•~~c to pui~iic he•alrh or the environment exists from routine emissions (ivm sour oil sncj ,,a;
s~;ls "
Thr• authors iitun ;lock at o,l.,;; ?arp,e sarres of hydrogen sulfide, such as re9ineries
'Ai'.. ~!n:~i :~tq ~;i iii,lca it°.JI .t iilit;lC i'3IiG_ l+alli l'1 In !nC 1 Unt 73uf R' 1 ail F1cli1 it'd ra 1 I':CUdr^
- tY EFA nad its charx:e tc re a%ate h
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Rooi:evtlt tiational Pa, in ?~orih Dakota had recorded more than 3,000 violations ofthe start's
hvdro~en sulfide standard each year from 1984 tluough 1986.
As it stands, the chemical essentially is treated as an afterthought by the EPA: Its concentration in
inLus?real fuel gas is limited to minimize emissions of sulfur dioxide, the lung-imtating gas created when
hydrogen sulfite is burned.
fh, story of the federal government's failed run at hydrogen sulfide begins in the mid-1980s, by which
time a groundswell had developed for an overhaul of the original Clean .0.ir Act, passed in t97U,
Restrained by a cumbersome regulatory scheme that forced it to do elaborate risk analyses on a
case-b}-case basis, the EPA l,ad made little head;aay against air toxics Realizing t!tat hundreds of
pernicious compounds were threatening public health and the environment, agency officials began io
rethink their strategy
LIltimatel} it was decided that air-taxies regulation shculd be a two-step process. Irxitsaries that poi out
listed chemicals above certain levels arc being required to employ "maximum achievable control
technologies" (!s1AC7) systems used by the most progressive members of a given industrial categary
Afte: these controls art in place, tfte EP-4 will revisit rack cattgor}~ If it determines that ti;ere is a
residual health risk, mere controls will be required.
The >ti1ACT progr aru is proccrdin~ apace. One hundred seventy-four categories from dry cleaners to
aerospace and organic-chemical manufacturers must have start-of--the-art control technologies ur puce
b}~ tiovember 2000_ About halt already do, and the LPA estimates that this has resulted in an annual
,eduction of 2 billion pounds of air taxies
What would hair happened if hydrogen sirll'ide had stayed on the L'PA's target list° The agency would
have looked at industric; knawn to pollute the air with large amaunts of ti:r chemical refineries, paper
milk, etc and probably would have set a laugh but attainable emission standard, as it has ur will set for
much rarer compounds
[r•dustr} resistance to i.ontrvls on hydrogen suifdt s not surprising, given that compliance could be ~.;uite
expensive. Natter to lathont is the traction to a seemingly Tess onerous CPA proposal to gild h}drogcr,
sulfide to a list of chemicals whose release; must be reported annually under the Taxies Release
Incentor~ program
Tic clttmical was atuang 82 nonunated Cur listing iu a petition subm_~tted in 1992 by then-Ne;c YorF.
Mario Coumo and the V'atural Resources f)efense Council Afti~r it accepted the petition and
arnouncrd its intentions, the EPA reccivrt a torrent of letters, many of which focused on hydrogen
s~!Ifite and a re'atet campuund, methyl mereaptan, adted to natural gas W give it a drtectahl~ odor
The Chemical Man,,fl+cturcrs -association insisted that there had not been a "sufficient dema~~~suati~~r, ~:1
h~~~lirgen ~niiite'-• chroni, etTects "
Fi~~e }rueri~an F~_~re>t and Paper .a:;octation sai;i that there was "no scientific rationa?e for list,ng rith•
hulr,~2en sulfid~t ni methyl mcr:•aptan "
L;.. r err,. "tY ='A has ~.is enance to regulate hydrogen sulfide http.lT,~,yy,chron.ccrrVcontentlchrcnicleipag?i137111109rr2smain hen'
i he EP~a scientists held their ground One internal memorandwn advised the agency to "continue support
for ;hydrogen sulfide's} chronic neurotosicity e11'ects,"
But rn the end, hydrogen sulfide and mahyl meroaptan were cull<;d from C+.romo's list Am~ action on
them was put on hold under what the iiPA calls an administrative stay. The reason was explained with
unusual candor by Assistant EP:A Adminisu~ator Lynn Goldman in the Aug. 22, 1994, Federal Register
"The Chemical Manufachtrers Association and the American Forest and Paper Association have told t}•,e
age~rw that unless administrative actio? is taken to resolve the issues outlined in today's document, a
prompt les=al ~hallerge wilt be brought "
:iusan 1 iaz~n, -~i:ector of the EPa's F.nvirunmental Assistance Division in Washington, said thre
ed=.ninistrzti+,c stay on hydrogen sulfide may be lifted by the end of the year and the substance "may ;cell
meet the fisting critena on chronic neurotoxicity."
earlier ihrs year, hooves er, oil and gas companies dodged yet another bullet. When the I3PA brought
seven broad industry sectors tinder the Toxics Release Inventory program, one was conspicuously absent
oil and gas espioration and production.
line who has argued for inclusion of this industry is Robert Wages, president of the Oil, Chemical and
Atomic Worker s union in Denver In a letter to EP.4 Administrator Carol Browmer on htay 3U, 1996,
Wages wrote thtit oil and gas operations release "vast quantities" of toxic chemicals
He sMgied our gas processing plants, "which are mostly made up of old, surplus equipment" and leak
"substantial, unreported volumes of hydrogen sulfide "
The I_PA's position is that the. industry is so idiosyncratic and d+ftuse that it is difficult to bring under a,r:
sort of regulatory program. "It isri t neat and tidy," said the agency s Hazen, who emphasized that the
matter is still ands!' evaluation.
Chris Shuey, an oil and gas specialist with the Southwest Research and Information Center in
4•.buquerque. sea no need for further study.
"'hhe oil and ras industry made all these outrageous claims that if they were to be included in (tht•
imrntory), it would cost them $^_00 million and put people out of work," Shuey said "They ciai;n<•ci that
al! f their sites arc in rett~otc areal, well away from people. For us, those kinds of statements duel r pats
the laugh test
"The industr,'s claitn~ sue spurious, but ycu ~wou?d expect that," he said. "What I don't esyee: a thi,
c~runued penchant of certain EP 4 administrainrs to simpl; cap e in It's a little bit tiresome tha: ;~r,~ple ur
Washington seem to cower at the big, bad oil and gas industry "
The irzdustr}'_. dual is ~,~ell-diuantznted Oil ~tnd ~;as producers and marketers contributed reai'y 5~
rnilliun to +_orgrrssional candidates arost of them Republican in the l ri°)4 elections, auordi, he
f~vntc~ tar 2,:spoc~i~ e Politi,,a in tV'ashin~tun, and gasp <li~tributars gay e another ~ million
the ~P isr ; i'ie unls federal agency to capiiul:tte t<r these interests
' .a. 7D: 1y ,A had 4s chance t~ regulate h} )en SU!fide http. Nnvw chron.con denUchronicie/paBetKJ t liO9lh.- air. ,rol
On 11ay iU, I rs. the tiational Transportation Satety Board recommended to the L'.S Department of
i'ramportation that it establish a maximum allowable hydrogen sulfide concentration for natura{ gas in
rnpelines- chat pipeline operarors be rewired to install detection and shurof£equiprnent that would
respond automatically when maximum levels were exceeded; and that such incidents be reported
Chc tiT~A didn't pull this proposal out of thin air There had been several disturbing pipeline incidents,
including one ne•u W'imars, Texas, on Aug 12, 1987. A gas stream feeding a Lone Star Gas plant was
found to contain 1,600 parts per million of hydrogen sulfide several times the lethal dose
Residents ware safely evacuated, but it was learned that an automatic shutol~'valve programmed to close
the pipeline when hydrogen sulfide levels exceeded 6 ppm had tailed. Lone Star told the N"CSB that rt had
had I 1 other incidents im~oiving excess hydragen sulfide levels in its pipelines since 1477
On June 1989. the Transponatiun Department accepted the 1\"CBS's recommendations and published
an "advance notice of proposed rulemaking "Like the LPA, it was quickly inundated with letters
Tl.e consensus among companies such as Texaco, Phillips, Chevron, Tenneco and Lone Star was that ti,t
regulat,ons were unnecessary and would be prohibitively expensive. On'~4arch 7, 1446, the
1'ransportatior[ Department formally abandoned the idea, much to the annoyance of the NTSB.
The case'or an LPA crackdown on hydrogen sulfide was made at a hearing before the Senate Conunittee
an Fnvinmment and Publi,: `r~ orks on June 14, I ~i87 The two witnesses tha[ day were from Kurth
Dakota, home of the late Sen Quentin Burdick, then chairman of the committee
John Brophy of the f argu->ti1~.ortread Audubon Socier~ and John Lantb with the Dacotah Chapter of tLc
Sierra Club testified that hydrogen sulfide releases from oil and gas wells in the western part ofthe state
had killed catt{c and caused the evacuation and hospitalisation of people
They pleaded for fcdera! intervention it never came-
Dr Harriet An•mtannjoined the EPA's science staft~in 1\orth Carolina in 148-1 and ;gas immedately
handed the tali: of researching hydrogen sulfide ShE: did so, off az[d on, for the next six years. authoring
a de!-tried health-assessment document or. tho chemical before leaving the agency In 149n.
Noti a sen•ier toxicologist wah the Washingh?n Department afNealth in r7lympia, •Ammaan is convinced
that an important opportunity was missed when hydrogen stdfide was bumped from the flazardou~ Sir
PnShuant list
"1 don't know why it was removed," she said recesttly "We were working on risk; to the general public
and the puh~lie is e~posai to it in areas tvhcre there are facilities that produce it.
"!i's r!early knowT, front industrial exposu"es, that it's a very toxic gas," Ammann said. "It hasn`t gc•tr_n
lot ot~rc~itect. in a ,;n,e, because even~one', smelled it and [node jokes about it $ut there's no one cvlto
~~ould srtrrd even ~0 parts per million of it t ha4e encountered it in a number of different situations it this
StaiC
i'he riT.~ !ist tiua exi,s today took shape in 188, when then-Sen- George Mitchell, D-:viaine, submitted
,F,r ritme_..rt ~hrn~,;c,il<,:zr;~c~ tr~>m rtu~e FP~~;tnrabesc•s.
EFA had Rs chance :o regulate hy,. ,den su~ide htlp !:'1vww.chron com,wrtentlchronicle/paaetl97! 11;09A~?smaln Mar.
The F,pA to this point had developed standards for only eight compounds: asbc:,los, mercury, bers?hum,
r7nyl chloride, benzene, inorganic arsenic, a;ke oven emissions and radionuclides. Its air-toxics progr asr.
was, by any measure. a bust.
Hydrogen sulfide was included on the Mitchell list, according to an internal EPA document, because of
as high toxicity The fist was trimr,ied to 19i during the first halfof 1990, and hydrogen sulfide survitied
the cut
by the time the final bi!1 got to the White house in November, only two of the 191 chemicals had been
targeted for removal. hydrogen sulfide and, in a concession to agriculture, ammonia.
A fomter congressional aide involved in the negotiations said that the inclusion of hydrogen sulfide un the
list "became a lightning rod API (the Amerman Petroleum Institute, the major oil coxnpanics' trade
association) was ail over it_ Our preference wotdd have been that ii stayed on the list "
A senior APl attorney explained the oil industr}'s position. "What it really came down to was that
hydrogen sulfide emissions are not appropriately handled as routine emissions," Ellen Siegler said. "Our
view was that this was more of an accidental-release issue,"
"Told that t}:e chemical is, in fact, regularly discharged in large quantities at a number of locations, Sies:!et
said- "That'; ne~.s to me."
Li 5 Rep- Hem}' Waxman, D-Calif, one of the arclutects of the 1990 act, said that there was uncertainty
at that time about hydrogen stttfide's behavior at low leuels-
"There have since been some studies showing that tow-level exposure does present a publio-health
theca!." 1L'axman said "I'm concettted about it "
It is fair to say that less vows known seven years ago about hydrogen sulfide's more subtle actions on thc-
human body then is known today
But even in 1990 there were chues.
~ 1 Qbd li S PubSc Heahh Sen'ice report un an outbreak of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and shott!n_:~s v..
b~ ratty in Terre l laute, lad , to example, idenh.fied a, the culprit a "vile odor" discovered to be.
hydrogen sulfde from an industrial waste iagrlon
"Cettainlc n_,usea is nu,rc than merely a nuisarlee since it intert<res with physical wmfort, anpctit~
eeneral rceli-being." the rsp<vt's authors wrot. "Feaple do not tsave to die to prove that a medical
puhii~ healtl: p ahlern exists "
As a happened, ti clerical error allowed hydrogen sulfide to remain on the Flazarduus Air Pollutant list :o•,
a era, after Fu~h signed the ac; It took a joint resulutiou of Congross Waxman made the mntiun in the
Hnuse to get a vff for good
l~he final list of ! 89 as since been red~~,ced by one Caprolaciarn. a feedstock ~.~sed i,: the making of
,rii,`~I,'-~e~ 1"C al:~.<-; b'. i?}~ Lt'-v til If~pORSC .O en Indll]lry pelJtlOll