PA Environment Digest Blog: Oil & Gas Methane Pollution Reduction Testimony: Sarah Hertweck, Indiana Township Supervisor - ‘I See Up Close How Hobbled We Are By The State To Make The Best Choices For Our Community’

The Department of Environmental Protection is in the middle of holding eight hearings on a state plan to implement an EPA federal rule 40 CFR Part 60, Subparts OOOOb and OOOOc Reducing Emissions Of Methane and Other Pollution from conventional oil and gas and shale gas operations. Read more here.

This testimony was submitted by Sarah Hertweck, Indiana Township Supervisor from Allegheny County--

Good evening. My name is Sarah Hertweck. Like many folks, I wear a lot of different hats.

Tonight I come to speak to you as a mother, a local Township Supervisor, a Pennsylvania native who has personal and professional stakes in the Commonwealth's economy.

I'm here today to urge our Governor, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to strengthen the proposed existing source oil and gas rule-- because the stakes are simply too high for our health, our air, and down the road - our children's future and economic consequences.

As a resident- I've seen what happens when industry comes in, extracts what they want, and leaves behind their temporary and marginally successful well pads, unmonitored emissions, and a burden that falls on us-the residents, the taxpayers, and worst of all, our children.

These companies are costing us our time, our health and money.

They know we can't compete in court. We don't have the backing of national deep pockets.

We're left to pick up the pieces behind the Oil and Gas Industry.

We trust the titans of industry to be good stewards, and keep their word, their legal agreements.

But without state backing, or enforcement- small towns, tiny municipalities end up getting hurt.

Here in the rust belt, we have learned this lesson.

In coal, coke [coal] and steel as well as oil/gas.

With added protections and regulations people can be protected and profit can still roll.

We can hold both concepts simultaneously.

When it comes to something as volatile as Oil and Gas rotating cast of LLCs and the lobby's that push them along, "compromise isn't about losing; it's about creating value together."

They can remain very profitable, and still be forced to do a little bit better than they are doing now.

I am not here to advocate for harming our economy, or asking for energy dependence elsewhere.

I'm asking for small, calculated and meaningful safety measures to be implemented.

I'm certain that anyone who hears this testimony or that is in this room right now already has the fact and figures about the very real health implications of this industry.

I'm sure all eyes and ears are also very aware of the environmental impacts.

So, I will not belabor those statistics. Instead, I ask for the DEP to go further.

This rule must:

-- "Include all wells, including low-producing ones. Pollution doesn't disappear just because a well is small."

-- "Require quarterly leak monitoring at every site, with monthly checks for complex sites."

-- "Ensure that leaks are fixed quickly-not left to fester."

-- "Stop flaring unless absolutely no other option exists."

-- "And connect frontline communities with real-time methane monitoring and health support

As a township Supervisor, I see up close how hobbled we are by the state to make the best choices for our community.

I urge Governor Shapiro to think deeply about us, the boots-on-the-ground-lawmakers, to have more flexibility when it comes to Oil and Gas in our neighborhoods.

We are losing this battle because our hands are tied due to inconsiderate state law.

One size does not fit all in our great state.

My township hosts many institutions with populations totaling thousands of vulnerable people in medical care facilities, preschools, public schools and dense planned residential developments that can all be subjected to living/schooling or working within a dangerous setback radius.

If we cannot completely legally protect our residents from wells being built next to their playgrounds, trout streams, and schools- can we please have tighter regulations for the hazardous emissions?

Click Here for a copy of the testimony.

To see other comments submitted on the methane reduction plan, visit DEP’s eComment webpage.

Visit DEP's Reducing Methane Emissions From Oil & Gas Operations webpage for information on hearings and how to submit comments. The deadline to submit comments is July 30.

(Photo: WTAE photo of shale gas well methane flare through a bedroom window that meets current 500 foot state setback.)

Resource Links:

-- DEP Sets 8th Hearing July 22 On State Plan To Implement Federal Rule Requiring Methane Emissions Reductions From Conventional Oil & Gas, Shale Gas Facilities [PaEN]

-- DEP To Use General Permit To Implement New Federal Oil & Gas Facility Methane Reduction Regulation [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Now Operate As Many As 95% Of Conventional Wells To Vent Methane Gas Making It Too Expensive To Comply With New EPA Methane Emission Reduction Regulations [PaEN]

-- PIOGA: DEP’s Plan To Reduce Methane Pollution From Oil & Gas Facilities An ‘Existential Threat’ To The Oil & Gas Industry [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Facility Owners Must Now File A Methane Emissions Compliance Report By June 1, 2025 Required By A 2022 DEP Methane Pollution Reduction Rule As A Result Of Court Settlement [PaEN]

-- EPA Pulls Back Regulations Setting Methane Emission Limits, Regulating Wastewater From Oil & Gas Operations, Risk Management Rule At Petrochemical Plants [PaEN]

Comments On DEP Oil & Gas Methane Emissions Reduction Plan:

-- Shale Gas Industry VP Attacks Credibility Of A Mom And Allegheny County Resident For Comments She Submitted In Support Of DEP Plan To Reduce Methane Emissions From The Oil & Gas Industry [PaEN]

-- PennLive Guest Essay: Why Pennsylvanians Must Speak Up For Reducing Oil & Gas Methane Emissions - Kim Anderson, Evangelical Environmental Network

-- Oil & Gas Methane Pollution Reduction Testimony: Patrice Tomcik, Mother, Butler County Resident And Moms Clean Air Force Member [PaEN]