Date Time More than 500,000 Americans live within 3 miles of natural gas flares More than a half-million Americans are exposed to oil and gas “flaring” events — the burning off of excess natural gas at production sites — resulting in potentially serious health risks, according to new research from USC and UCLA. “Our findings show that flaring is an environmental justice issue,” said Jill Johnston, an environmental health scientist and assistant professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “We found that a significant number of Black, Indigenous and Latinx people live near flaring. High rates of poverty and other barriers to health in rural areas — such as a lack of access to health care — could worsen the health effects of flaring-related exposures.”