Wildfires increasingly threaten oil and gas wells in the western United States with disproportionate impacts on marginalized populations

The western United States is home to most of the nation’s oil and gas production and, increasingly, wildfires. We examined historical threats of wildfires for oil and gas wells, the extent to which wildfires are projected to threaten wells as climate change progresses, and the exposure of human populations to these wells. From 1984–2019, we found that cumulatively 102,882 wells were located in wildfire burn areas and 348,853 people were exposed (resided ≤ 1 km). During this period, we observed a five-fold increase in the number of wells in wildfire burn areas and a doubling of the population within 1 km of these wells. These trends are projected to increase by the late century, likely threatening human health. Approximately 2.9 million people reside within 1 km of wells in areas with high wildfire risk, and Asian, Black, Hispanic, and Native American people have disproportionately high exposure to wildfire-threatened wells., , , # Wildfires increasingly threaten oil and gas wells in the western United States with disproportionate impacts on marginalized populations

[Access this dataset on Dryad](https://doi.org/10.6078/D1K12N)

### Authors

David J.X. González*, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Zehua Liu, Mary D. Willis, Yan Feng, Lisa M. McKenzie, Benjamin B. Steiger, Jiali Wang, Nicole C. Deziel, and Joan A. Casey

*Correspondence to [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])

## Summary

The dataset deposited here is associated with a peer-reviewed study published in *One Earth* in June 2024. Recent increases in wildfire activity in the Western United States have coincided with the proliferation of oil and gas development and substantial population growth in the wildland-urban interface. From 1984–2019, we observed a five-fold increase in the number of wells in wildfire burn areas and a doubling of the population within 1 km of these wells. These trends are projected to increase by the late century, likely t...