By: Michele Timmons, Ohio Supermom, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: December 1, 2021
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0317
To: Environmental Protection Agency
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Michele Timmons. I am a small business owner, an educational consultant, and one of the very first members of Moms Clean Air Force in Ohio. I am from Reynoldsburg, right outside of Columbus. I support the proposed EPA methane rules and urge you to finalize the strongest and most comprehensive plan to protect children’s health from all sources of oil and gas methane pollution, including small wells and routine flaring.
I grew up in Steubenville in the 70s, when it was one of America’s most polluted cities, and was one of the kids who participated in Harvard University’s famous ‘Six cities’ study. I am also the mother of a 19-year-old son who has been suffering from asthma since he was six months old. My family has spent thousands of hours administering breathing treatments, battling symptoms, going to doctors’ appointments, and making late night ER runs when his asthma was out of control. During his earliest academic career, John even lost about 10 days of academic instruction—PER YEAR. Like my son John, more than 200,000 Ohio children struggle with the realities of asthma every day. As a nation it is critical that we protect our children from all sources of oil and gas methane pollution.
Methane, the main ingredient in natural gas, is a powerful greenhouse gas pollutant that is fueling the climate crisis. Methane is leaking from the oil and gas sector at the rate of more than 16 million metric tons a year—the equivalent of the climate pollution from all the nation’s passenger vehicles in a year.
The opportunity is right before us to create baseline protections for all children across the nation, especially for states that have failed to enact meaningful oil and gas methane protections. While the Ohio legislature developed methane rules several years ago around inspections, there is so much more that could be done to protect our air quality. Quickly and significantly reducing methane pollution is one of the best levers we have to slow the rate of climate change now and help clean up the air to protect children’s health.
That is why I urge the EPA to require frequent inspections of all wells, including the smaller leak prone wells, in the final rule. It is important to note that a large number of wells produce a small amount of usable product but are large emitters of methane. They cannot be ignored in the rulemaking process. Further, the EPA proposal must also prohibit the practice of flaring at oil and gas sites. Flaring emits air pollutants that impact the health of nearby communities and contributes to climate change. The EPA needs to eliminate the practice of routine flaring at oil and gas sites in the final rule.
Right now, one in three people in the US lives in a county with oil and gas production and is at risk of exposure to harmful oil and gas pollutants. Ohio is no exception. Children who live, learn, or play near oil and gas operations face a higher risk of exposure to industry’s harmful air pollution. A strong methane rule can reduce the pollution that causes respiratory diseases, asthma attacks, increased hospitalizations all while combating the impacts of climate change. Any agency rule that can reduce children’s asthma attacks is going to be a priority for my family, and should be a priority for the EPA, as well.
Thank you again for the opportunity to provide comments today. On behalf of Moms Clean Air Force and my family, I support the proposed EPA methane rules and urge you to finalize the strongest and most comprehensive methane rules to protect children’s health from all sources of oil and gas methane pollution including routine flaring and small wells.