Dr. Colborn Comments on Infrared Videos Showing Fugitive Emission in Barnett Shale

A comment from Dr. Theo Colborn who viewed the videos when I was in Colorado recently:

The tanks you see in this picture can be found across the gas fields in the US. They look harmless as you drive by just like the other stationary equipment you see on well pads. Without an infrared camera, as in this case, that picks up the plume of the highly active volatile chemicals escaping from the tanks, no one would suspect that the tanks could possibly pose a public health problem. As natural gas extraction continues to increase, federal, state, and local public health authorities and regulatory agencies are unprepared to deal with the problem.

—
Theo Colborn, PhD
President, TEDX (The Endocrine Disruption Exchange)
PO Box 1407
Paonia, CO 81428
direct:970-527-6548 office:970-527-4082
http://www.endocrinedisruption.org

This is official video footage from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Infrared cameras make toxic emissions visible to the naked eye.

Previous post with additional information HERE

About the camera used
From David Greer, TCEQ:

Question: Can you describe the type video camera that was used?

Answer: The camera is a FLIR GasFind IR camera. The infrared gas-imaging camera used by Leak Surveys, Inc., consists of a modified Indigo (FLIR/Indigo Systems Corp., Goleta CA) Merlin MID camera with a nominal spectra range of 1- 5.4 micrometers.

The spectral range is limited with the use of a notch filter specifically designed for the detection of hydrocarbon infrared adsorptions in the 3-micron region. The narrow bandpass range of the filter is less than the infrared spectral adsorption of gas phase hexane. The filter notch is positioned such that alkane gases have a significant response within the bandpass range.

Question: What exactly is that “stuff” that looks like smoke?

Answer: The GasFind IR camera technology offers a unique technological advancement in pollution detection capability, and has proved to be highly effective in the detection of hydrocarbon compounds. However, the camera does not quantify, nor does the camera speciate the compounds that are detected.