By: Almeta Cooper, National Manager, Health Equity, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: March 26, 2024
About: Advanced Leak Detection and Repair Rule
To: Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee
My name is Almeta E. Cooper. I currently reside in Washington, DC, and moved to the DC area after living many years in Atlanta, Georgia. I am speaking today as an African American mother who cares deeply about health inequities and how they affect Black and Brown children and those living in under-resourced and low-wealth communities across the country. I am speaking only once today because I cannot attend the entire meeting. My comments pertain to the rule generally and the urgency of finalizing a strong and comprehensive rule quickly.
Specifically, I am here to urge the Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee (GPAC) to recommend that the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Safety Material Administration (PHSMA) adopt the strongest possible Advanced Leak Detection and Repair Rule because that is the best way to protect Black, Brown and all children, their families, friends and neighbors from the health harms caused by pipeline emissions and leaks, especially to cut methane emissions.
For those of us living in urban areas, we know that many urban areas have natural gas pipeline infrastructure that is old and degrading. According to the American Community Survey (ACS), 48% of occupied American housing units use natural gas for house heating. Researchers have found a high correlation exists between people of color and pipeline leaks.* And even though the severity of the impact of leaks may not result in an immediate, extreme harm of physical injury, explosion and/or death, the health harms of methane emissions are known and documented. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas — 84 times more powerful, on average, than carbon dioxide, in the first two decades after its release. Wherever methane escapes into the atmosphere whether from pipelines or other leaks, the result is climate pollution. Cutting methane emissions is an urgent priority in slowing down the rate of climate warming. Sadly, researchers found in a study of 13 US cities, across all 13 metro areas combined, that increased leaks correlated to the percent of people of color in the community and with low-income households. This was true even when the researchers controlled for other variables.
Because my daily focus is on clean air, climate disruption, and health equity, I often talk to people across the country like Shaina Oliver, an indigenous woman and urban tribal member of the Navajo Nation living in Denver, Colorado. Shaina, like many other people of color, is concerned about protecting her community from the disproportionate impact of oil and gas pollution. She believes that effective rulemaking is a critical step for helping to protect communities of color who are disproportionately impacted by oil and gas pollution. Strong protective standards give her hope for her children’s future. Setting federal requirements for more frequent inspections and improved reporting has the potential to save lives.
Our communities and families need and deserve the health, safety, and climate protections of the Proposed Rule now. I ask that the Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee recommend that PHMSA quickly adopt and implement a strong advanced leak detection and repair rule.
Source:
*Environ. Sci. Technol. 2022, 56, 12, 8599–8609. Publication Date: May 11, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c00097. Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.