Oil and gas companies can drill as close as 150 feet to your home. While the mineral rights for hosting an oil and gas company drilling site on your property can be lucrative, you need to consider the safety issues and potential health risks that can arise from having an active oil well near your home. It may be a better option to preserve a clear area around your home for heightened safety especially if you live with pets and children who may want to go play outside.
Safe Distance Between Your Home and an Oil/Well Drilling Site
You should know that there is no universal standard for setback distance from homes, so if you are concerned about oil or gas rigs near you, you need to research and understand the specific regulations and practices in your local area.
If the drilling project has been permitted according to your local regulations and the drill site is dangerously close to your premises, you can consider taking up a mortgage with CMB and relocating to a new home where your loved ones are safe from the risk of having a drilling site uncomfortably near your home. The safe distance or legal setback you can have between your home and a drilling site can vary depending on your state’s laws and can also be affected by other factors like:
- Environmental considerations
- Your community’s input
- The drilling company’s practices
- The type of drilling activity
- Your local zoning and land use regulations
For optimal safety and minimal risk to your health, you can consider having an oil or gas extraction site at a 2000 foot setback from your home. Most health and environmental experts suggest that you should be set back about a quarter mile from energy exploration and production sites to protect you from the potential hazard of the drilling site contaminating the air and water quality.
Health Hazards of Living Near Oil Rigs
Most scientists claim that the significant health concerns you can face from living close to an oil rig include:
- Uncomfortable noise and lights that can make it hard to sleep
- Risk of water pollutants emanating from the oil and gas developments
- Inhaling diesel exhaust pollution from trucks
You may even begin experiencing nosebleeds at night from inhaling toxic substances especially if you fail to close your windows and seal your house from the pollutants. Contact with carcinogens released during the oil or gas extraction process can cause mutations in your body and result in negative health effects like premature births, heart conditions, bladder cancer, leukemia, and low birth weights.
Actions to Take If Your Property Is Near an Oil Rig
The best way you can ensure that this issue is addressed upfront is by seeking adequate setback from your home and community premises during negotiations with the drilling company before their oil and gas lease is approved. Alternatively, if you wish to have a drill site on a piece of property you own to benefit from the proportionate share of the profits from the well, you could consider getting into an agreement with the drilling company to make shallow wells that are slightly less damaging to the environment.
Endnote
Oil and gas wells smell bad and can take away from the beauty of the environment around you. Having an oil rig uncomfortably close to your home can result in elevated stress levels, ground vibrations leading to dizziness, frequent headaches, and even respiratory issues like asthma due to air pollution. It is best to consider having oil and gas extraction sites far from where you live.
