PA Environment Digest Blog: Environmental Defense Fund, Clean Air Council, Environmental Health Project Sponsor Ad Campaign To Finalize Strong EPA Oil & Gas Methane Emission Limits To Protect PA's Health & Climate

On March 15, the Environmental Defense Fund, Clean Air Council and the Environmental Health Project launched a TV and digital ad campaign to urge EPA to put in place strong rules to curb oil and gas methane pollution.

Click Here to watch the ad.

“President Biden has stood up to polluters and put forward a strong, commonsense proposal that would significantly cut methane pollution from oil and gas well sites across Pennsylvania and the U.S.,” said Jon Goldstein, Senior Director of Regulatory & Legislative Affairs at EDF. “For the future of Pennsylvania’s climate and the health of those living closest to oil and gas wells, the EPA must adopt the strongest rules possible as quickly as possible.”

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide for the first twenty years that it remains in the atmosphere. Methane pollution is also responsible for more than 25 percent of the climate change Pennsylvania experiences today.

Oil and gas operations in Pennsylvania release hundreds of thousands of tons of methane pollution each year alongside smog-forming volatile organic compounds as well as toxic and cancer-causing air pollutants like benzene.

Last month, tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians testified in support of strong oil and gas methane rules as the Environmental Protection Agency wrapped-up a public comment period on its draft proposal. The EPA is expected to finalize its oil and gas methane rules by the end of the summer.

The draft rules include key provisions such as monitoring at all oil and gas well sites – including at low-producing wells with failure-prone equipment that produce just 6% of the nation’s oil and gas but 50% of site-level methane emissions – and a transition to zero-emission pneumatic devices, in addition to third-party monitoring for super-emitter emission events.

Advocates continue to press EPA to expand retrofit requirements for pneumatic pumps designed to pollute, which are the industry’s No. 2 source of methane emissions, and to end pollution from the routine flaring of associated gas, a common problem in oil fields that contributes to climate change and ozone pollution across multiple states.

The ad will run on local Pittsburgh-area broadcast TV stations over the next week as well as streaming platforms and online digital media over the next month.

Clean Air Council and the Environmental Health Project also co-sponsored the ad campaign.

Pennsylvanians who want to support efforts to finalize strong oil and gas methane rules can do so at EDF’s Tell EPA To Slash Climate Change-Causing Methane Emissions webpage.

Related Articles - PA Oil & Gas Methane Pollution:

-- The Guardian: One Of The Worst Global Methane Leaks In 2022 Was In PA - Equitrans In Cambria County; Routine Abandonment, Non-Compliance Of Conventional Gas Wells [PaEN]

-- DEP Methane Overflight Research Study Resulted In Voluntary Reductions In Oil & Gas, Landfill Facilities; Coal Industry Uncooperative [PaEN]

-- EDF: Conventional Gas Wells In Allegheny National Forest Leaked Over 6 Billion Cubic Feet Of Natural Gas In 2019; Conventional Operators Seek To Block Methane Limits [PaEN]

-- Scranton Times Editorial: Lower Boom On Natural Gas Leaks, Audit Abandoned Gas Well Capping [PaEN]

-- DEP Has Ordered A ‘Top To Bottom Review’ Of How It Regulates Underground Natural Gas Storage Areas As A Result Of The Equitrans Gas Leak In Cambria County In Nov. [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Orders To Equitrans To Plug Additional Wells At Cambria County Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility, Bring Other Wells Up To Current Casing Standards And Take Other Actions [PaEN]

-- Equitrans/DEP In Discussions To Resolve EHB Appeal Of DEP’s Order To Fix Cambria County Underground Natural Gas Storage Area Conventional Access Wells [PaEN]

-- UPDATED: After 14 Days, Efforts To Stop A Natural Gas Leak At A Cambria County Underground Gas Storage Area Have Apparently Been Successful [PaEN]

-- York County-based Evangelical Environmental Network: 100,000+ Pro-Life Evangelicals Support Strong Oil & Gas Facility Methane Limits [PaEN]

-- EQB Overwhelmingly Approves Emergency Regulation Setting VOC/Methane Limits For Conventional Oil & Gas Facilities; Republicans Vote Against [PaEN]

-- EQB Adopts Part I Of Reg. Reducing Oil & Gas VOC/Methane Emissions; 80% Of Methane Emissions Come From Conventional Oil & Gas Facilities; IRRC Considers July 21 [PaEN]