Families living on the frontlines of oil and gas have an updated tool at their fingertips. The new analysis in the Oil & Gas Threat Map released by Earthworks and FracTracker shows that more than 17.3 million people, including 3.9 million children under 18, live within a half-mile threat radius of active oil and gas operations. This is an increase of 4.7 million people since the last time Earthworks updated their analysis in 2017. When families and individuals live within the threat radius, they are more at risk of health impacts from methane and other harmful pollution emitted by oil and gas operations. The Oil & Gas Threat Map is a powerful tool that highlights the need for strong methane rules to protect the health of families and the climate.
Methane is the main ingredient in natural gas, and it’s a powerful greenhouse gas pollutant that is fueling the climate crisis. Oil and gas companies leak methane at the rate of more than 16 million metric tons a year into the atmosphere when they extract, store, and transport oil and gas throughout the supply chain. This is the equivalent of the climate pollution from all of the nation’s passenger vehicles in a year.
Parents can view the Earthworks Oil & Gas Threat Map here to better understand how close they are to oil and gas facilities. While the half-mile threat radius was determined based on years of peer-reviewed studies of the health impacts associated with living near oil and gas operations, Earthworks says this is a conservative estimate. Air pollution from oil and gas operations can travel great distances and have a variety of health impacts, including respiratory diseases, asthma attacks, neurological problems, and cancer. Air pollution from oil and gas operations also contributes to climate change, which further harms health.
“This map clearly shows the extent of those impacted most immediately and most acutely by the industries’ pollution, and it also reveals many sources of methane pollution,” says Rachel Meyer, the Moms Clean Air Force Coordinator for the Ohio River Valley. “As a parent of a two-year-old daughter with 30 oil and gas wells and a compressor station in my township, I appreciate having this map as a tool to shine a spotlight on the urgency of protecting little lungs from this industry’s harmful pollution.”
With almost 4 million US children living in the oil and gas threat radius, we must do everything we can to protect them from methane pollution. Last November, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a methane rule that would help reduce methane and other harmful air pollutants from new and existing sources of oil and gas operations but it doesn’t go far enough. That’s why Moms Clean Air Force will be participating in a supplemental rulemaking that EPA is expected to announce in the fall.
Flaring is the unnecessary burning of excess gasses and leaks from small wells, and it has been shown in a recent study to account for half of all methane pollution. In addition, it is important for EPA to allow community monitoring data to help assist in the implementation and enforcement of the methane safeguards.
The Oil & Gas Threat Map shows that a growing number of families are living with oil and gas air pollution. We hope the EPA will take swift action to protect public health and clean up the air by cutting methane pollution. There is no time to waste.