Scientists, public health officials, and environmentalists as well as representatives of faith, parent and student groups from Pennsylvania and Ohio Tuesday applauded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's proposed rule to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas industry at an EPA hearing on the rule in Pittsburgh.

The agency's hearing in Pittsburgh was one of three held across the U.S., with the other two in Denver and Dallas last week.

Concerned citizens packed two hearing rooms at the William S. Moorhead Federal Building downtown, where many spoke supportively of the federal rule as they encouraged the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf to do more to rein in these harmful emissions.

Nature Abounds’ President Melinda Hughes-Wert provided testimony at the EPA hearing (below).

The proposed EPA rules seek to cut methane emissions 40 to 45 percent by 2025, from 2012 levels. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas – up to 84 times more so than CO2 in the first 20 years after its release into the atmosphere. The oil and gas sector is the largest industrial source of methane pollution in the nation.

Methane emissions combine with toxic co-pollutants to form ground-level ozone, or smog, which leads to negative health impacts including asthma, lung and heart disease, illnesses that disproportionately affect children, the elderly and underserved populations.

"The EPA's proposed methane rules are a good first step but Pennsylvania can and must do more to reduce this harmful pollution," said Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of PennFuture. "Pennsylvania needs to adopt its own best-in-the-nation standards to cover both new and existing sources of emissions from the thousands of oil and gas wells in our state. We should use this momentum to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon, clean energy future – our children's futures depend on it."

"Strong rules that mandate a reduction in methane will mitigate climate change and help improve air quality and public health," said Joseph Otis Minott, Esq., executive director of Clean Air Council. "EPA's efforts are a good first step that will provide a backstop to safeguard public health and clean our air using technologies that already exist. At the same time, the rules will not tackle the thousands of tons of methane pollution currently leaking from Pennsylvania's expansive gas industry because they will only apply to new or modified gas facilities while expecting voluntary cooperation from operators of existing sources. Pennsylvania needs to act quickly to address both new sources of methane pollution as well as existing natural gas infrastructure. As the second-largest natural gas producing state in the nation, we will accept nothing less."

"As a registered nurse and health care professional, the EPA's proposed methane rules will aid in primary prevention to reduce asthma and other respiratory illnesses which are exacerbated by harmful methane emissions and their toxic co-pollutants," said Dr. Peggy Berry, PhD., MSN, RN. "The fight for improved health is one we are waging actively in my state, Ohio, and throughout the region and country. It's time for the oil and gas industry to clean up its act and stop jeopardizing the health and welfare of our communities and landscapes. As registered nurses and healthcare professionals, we thank the EPA for taking this step in the right direction."

"Our leaders must continue the transition to truly clean, renewable energy that is already taking place," said Sr. Donna Zwigart of the Sisters of St. Francis. "In the meantime, a strong, unwavering commitment from Gov. Tom Wolf and our elected leaders including U.S. Sen. Bob Casey to forcefully tackle both carbon and methane pollution is the kind of action that will show Pope Francis that Pennsylvania means business and will lead the fight against climate change."

"The youth across the nation and world are addressing our governments and leaders – now, loudly," said Sage Lincoln, student activist at the University of Pittsburgh. "You cannot leave us gasping for breath amid polluted air. You cannot let our fears become reality. The time to act in Pennsylvania, and nationally, is now. As we support the EPA's methane rules, the youth ask Gov. Tom Wolf to lead in Pennsylvania with the strongest state methane rules possible. It is OUR future that is in the hands of our leaders and they must not delay."

Nature Abounds

Nature Abounds’ President Melinda Hughes-Wert provided this testimony at the EPA hearing-- 

My name is Melinda Hughes-Wert, and I live in DuBois, PA. I want to thank you for this opportunity to share my thoughts on the proposed methane emissions regulations.

In addition to being a citizen concerned about the health of our environment, I am also the President and cofounder of the national nonprofit Nature Abounds which has supporters and volunteers across all 50 states.

Among our focuses is natural resources extraction, which we experience in our own backyard with coal mining, conventional gas and oil drilling, as well as fracking. We have a significant focus on the effects of climate change from which the world is already experiencing and our children and grandchildren will be far into the future. We can’t work on fracking or climate change without also looking at the effects of methane emissions.

I strongly support EPA’s recently proposed methane pollution standards for the oil and gas industry, although I only see this as a first step. We really need stronger protections to ensure a healthy future for all living creatures. Many flora and fauna species are already having to adapt to the warmer world. Continuing to allow greenhouse gases continue with industry going about business-as-usual only worsens the problem.

It is already known that methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas, and in fact, 86 times as powerful as carbon dioxide over a 20 year time-frame. Methane is a powerful contributor to climate change and in 2013 alone, the oil and gas sources emitted over 7.3 million metric tons of methane. This is equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions from over 160 coal-burning power plants, and in this one year of 2013, methane accounted for about 10 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, according to the EPA website.

With less methane in the atmosphere we also reduce risk. According to the US Department of Energy, the most significant health hazard associated with methane is that it is highly combustible and mixtures of just 5 to 15 percent of methane in air can be explosive. Large concentrations of methane in enclosed areas can lead to suffocation as large amounts of methane will decrease the amount of available oxygen in the air.

The effects of oxygen deficiency are nausea, headaches, dizziness, and unconsciousness. These are the effects on normal people, but the risks are even greater for those with health problems, especially respiratory.

This leads me to my next point. Many fracking sites are around the country are located in mountainous areas like Pennsylvania and Colorado, where air is known to get trapped between the valleys. In fact, our area is known for having some of the worst air pollution in the country due to air becoming trapped.

We are also known for some of the highest rates of respiratory issues like lung cancer and COPD. Adding more air pollution only exacerbates the problem, while reducing methane emissions will help.

The air pollution that does escape the valleys can travel far. A recent study by researchers at the University of Maryland looked at hourly measurements of ethane and methane, both gases found in natural gas in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. between 2010 and 2013. 

While there wasn’t much information on methane sources at the time, they found that ethane measurements increased by 30 percent in that time period. Ironically, fracking operations aren’t found in Maryland and DC, but they are in the neighboring upwind states of West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania where fracking was booming during this period.

Note that researchers ruled out other potential sources of pollution. They also compared their findings with cities that aren’t downwind from fracking operations such as Atlanta, and these areas did not show changes in their ethane and methane emissions.

In closing, the oil and gas industry must take responsibility for their pollution, rather than asking the public and our environment to bear the burden. Too often is the profit privatized while the effects and clean-up are socialized.

The proposed standards will not only help with methane, but will also help to curb other hazardous air pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are released from oil and gas sources alongside methane.

As I mentioned earlier, these proposed rules are an important first step towards reducing the harm of this industry. I hope that the EPA will strengthen and finalize these rules and move swiftly to issue standards covering existing sources, within the oil and gas industry as well as other contributing sources.

Thank you, again, for allowing me to share my thoughts.

For more information on programs and activities, visit the Nature Abounds website.

EPA will be accepting public comment on the proposed methane rule through November 18.  For more information, visit EPA’s Methane Emission Standards webpage.

NewsClips:

EPA In Pittsburgh On Proposed Oil & Gas Methane Emission Limits

EPA Hears From Supporters, Opponents Of Methane Standards

EPA Hears Comments On Proposed EPA Methane Rule

5 Things You Need To Know About EPA’s Methane Plan

Methane Leak Data In PA Paints Uncertain Picture

10/5/2015