By: Vanessa Lynch, Pennyslvania Field Organizer, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: February 12, 2024
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0434
To: Environmental Protection Agency
My name is Vanessa Lynch and I am a Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force. I live in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with my husband and two children. I support the Methane Emissions Reduction Program and its mission to encourage the timely reduction of pollution from the oil and gas industry to fight the climate crisis and protect public health.
The reason this program is so important to me is that I have witnessed first-hand the impacts the oil and gas industry has had on my community with a well pad having been fracked in a medium density residential area of my local township. The well pad is located near homes, a daycare center, an assisted living facility and a park where my children spent many of their childhood days playing in the stream and participating in recreational sports.
As a frontline community member, I am excited by the ability of the Methane Emission Reduction Program to cut methane and other harmful pollutants from oil and gas operations across the country. By ensuring oil and gas operators comply with federal methane standards and incentivizing action now to reduce emissions, this program is an important step towards addressing the climate crisis and protecting the health and safety of children like mine. The sooner action occurs the sooner frontline communities experience lower oil and gas air pollution impacts, making this program a real win for Pennsylvanians.
The University of Pittsburgh in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Department of Health recently conducted a number of studies to look at the impacts of oil and gas operations on Pennsylvania’s frontline communities. The findings around asthma were particularly concerning. Increases in the number of asthma attacks and hospitalizations were noted up to 10 miles away from a well pad during the production phase of fracking.
By working in tandem with both federal methane rules and updates to the oil and gas Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, the methane waste emissions charge will use real-world data which will make these safeguards even more promising. The methane waste emissions charge is part of a comprehensive approach to decreasing methane and other harmful pollutants, making it vital for this program to be enacted.
As a frontline community member, I enthusiastically celebrated the finalization of new federal methane rules last year, but these will take time to implement, and the methane emissions reduction program incentivizes companies to take action now to reduce emissions. In fact, many forward-thinking companies are already retrofitting well sites with zero-pollution equipment.
Thank you for your work and continued efforts to protect frontline families like mine who are exposed to the highest levels of oil and gas pollution.