Colorado Residents Now Have a Way to ‘See’ the Toxic Emissions They Live With

​​An optical gas imaging camera shows planet-warming gases being vented from storage tanks at a well site in Watkins, Colorado. Image: Earthworks.

A tour of oil and gas sites encroaching on Denver’s eastern suburbs fell on a fitting day, with air so polluted that state health officials warned the elderly and children to stay inside. Participants were eager to see where these toxic gases come from.

The group stood on the shoulder of a noisy frontage road with a panoramic view of operations that encompass the fossil fuel production lifecycle — the oil storage tanks, a compressor station and a drilling rig spread out on arid grasslands and emitting pollutants including nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds.