By: Patrice Tomcik, Senior National Field Director, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: June 30, 2025
About: Support of a strong and durable methane state plan
To: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
My name is Patrice Tomcik, and I am the Senior National Field Director for Moms Clean Air Force—a community of over 1.5 million parents united to protect our children’s health from air pollution and climate change. I am the mother of two boys living in Gibsonia located in Butler County.
At a time when the Trump Administration is working to rollback or weaken clean air and climate protections at the federal level, I urge Governor Shapiro and the Department of Environmental Protection to finalize the most durable and protective methane rule for existing oil and gas operations to protect families like mine who live with oil and gas operations in our community.
As the second-largest natural gas producing state in the nation, Pennsylvania has an outsized responsibility to be a national leader in reducing harmful methane and volatile organic compound (VOC) pollution from thousands of existing oil and gas operations throughout the state.
While we are all vulnerable to air pollution and climate change, certain populations are impacted more, such as people located the closest to oil and gas operations and especially children who are uniquely vulnerable to pollution. In Pennsylvania, 1.5 million people live a half mile away from oil and gas operations and 300,000 children go to school a half mile from oil and gas operations that puts their health at risk.
Active fracking of 11 gas wells just finished last year within the Mars Area school district in my community. The closest fracked gas wells are located about a half mile away from the school campus that puts 3,200 students' health at risk. Oil and gas operations emit climate-warming methane and health harming VOCs, such as benzene, that increase the risk of immune system damage and cancers. My son just graduated from high school this month but I am concerned about the cumulative exposure from all the fracked gas wells in the area over his lifetime, especially since he is a pediatric cancer survivor and is at a greater risk of having cancer again.
There is a growing body of scientific studies indicating an increased risk of health impacts associated with being located in close proximity to oil and gas operations and a large majority of studies are in Pennsylvania. Every time new research comes out, I have to brace myself for fear of the results and what this could mean for my son’s health. Families living near oil and gas operations need and deserve every tool to protect them from the oil and gas industry’s harmful pollution.
Parents like me want the most comprehensive protections for our families and are asking Governor Shapiro to make the following improvements to the methane rule
- Require quarterly instrument-based leak monitoring at all well sites;
- Include separators in the definition of complex well sites and hold them to monthly instrument-based inspections;
- Ensure quick repair timelines for detected leaks to reduce immediate harms to public health, safety, and the environment;
- Supplement EPA's Super Emitter Program by engaging with and connecting impacted residents with necessary methane monitoring and health resources and expertise to better protect public health;
- Create protective standards against flaring of associated gas for wells of all sizes that requires thorough proof that other options are infeasible before flaring is allowed;
In summary, I urge Governor Shapiro and the Department of Environmental Protection to finalize the most durable and protective rules because quickly and significantly reducing methane pollution from oil and gas operations 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.
Every child has the right to breathe clean air, and the right to a stable climate.