Associations between Residential Proximity to Oil and Gas Drilling and Term Birth Weight and Small-for-Gestational-Age Infants in Texas: A Difference-in-Differences Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Oil and natural gas extraction may produce environmental pollution at levels that affect reproductive health of nearby populations. Available studies have primarily focused on unconventional gas drilling and have not accounted for local population changes that can coincide with drilling activity. OBJECTIVE: Our study sought to examine associations between residential proximity to oil and gas drilling and adverse term birth outcomes using a difference-in-differences study design. METHODS: We created a retrospective population-based term birth cohort in Texas between 1996 and 2009 composed of mother-infant dyads (n=2,598,025) living <10km from an oil or gas site. We implemented a difference-in-differences approach to estimate associations between drilling activities and infant health: term birth weight and term small for gestational age (SGA). Using linear and logistic regression, we modeled interactions between births before (unexposed) or during (exposed) drilling activity and residential proximity near (0-1, 1-2, or 2-3km) or far (3-10km) from an active or future drilling site, adjusting for individual- and neighborhood-level characteristics. RESULTS: The adjusted mean difference in term birth weight for mothers living 0-1 vs. 3-10km from a current or future drilling site was -7.3g [95% confidence interval (CI): -11.6, -3.0] for births during active vs. future drilling. The corresponding adjusted odds ratio for SGA was 1.02 (95% CI: 0.98, 1.06). Negative associations with term birth weight were observed for the 1-2 and 2-3km near groups, and no consistent differences were identified by type of drilling activity. Larger, though imprecise, adverse associations were found for infants born to Hispanic women, women with the lowest educational attainment, and women living in cities. CONCLUSIONS: Residing near oil and gas drilling sites during pregnancy was associated with a small reduction in term birth weight but not SGA, with some evidence of environmental injustices. Additional work is needed to investigate specific drilling-related exposures that might explain these associations. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP7678.

Rural Light Pollution from Shale Gas Development and Associated Sleep and Subjective Well-Being.

The shale oil and gas boom has had large economic, environmental, and social impacts on rural communities in the United States. This study provides novel estimates of the impacts of shale oil and gas development on light pollution in rural areas of the United States. Using nationwide, time-calibrated DMSP-OLS database from 2000 to 2012, we find robust evidence that the shale oil and gas boom significantly increased light pollution in rural areas. We then assess associations between horizontal drilling and subjective self-rated health using nationwide data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) from 2000 to 2012. Our findings suggest that insufficient sleep and poor health (physical or mental) are associated with increased drilling in rural areas. These results provide support for drilling-related light pollution as an additional environmental pathway of concern for public health beyond the mechanisms of air or water pollution.

Shale gas transmission and housing prices.

In this study, we exploit residential property sales data in New York to value the external environmental costs of the proposed Constitution Pipeline, a high-capacity transmission pipeline designed to transport hydraulically-fractured natural gas in Pennsylvania to large northeastern markets. Results from difference-in-differences models suggest post-announcement price declines of 9% (~$12,000) for those properties located within three kilometers of the pipeline. These results are strongly robust to different specifications and subsets of the data, as well as falsification testing. Additionally, we find some evidence of attenuation in our treatment effect over time, which is indicative of either declining salience or expectations of the pipeline over time. Our results suggest that homebuyer expectations of the environmental externalities of natural gas pipeline construction and operations are large and negative.