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Environmental Defense Fund, Clean Air Council, Environmental Health Project Sponsor Ad Campaign To Finalize Strong EPA Oil & Gas Methane Emission Limits To Protect PA's Health & Climate

On March 15, the Environmental Defense Fund, Clean Air Council and the Environmental Health Project launched a TV and digital ad campaign to urge EPA to put in place strong rules to curb oil and gas methane pollution.

Click Here to watch the ad.

“President Biden has stood up to polluters and put forward a strong, commonsense proposal that would significantly cut methane pollution from oil and gas well sites across Pennsylvania and the U.S.,” said Jon Goldstein, Senior Director of Regulatory & Legislative Affairs at EDF. “For the future of Pennsylvania’s climate and the health of those living closest to oil and gas wells, the EPA must adopt the strongest rules possible as quickly as possible.”

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide for the first twenty years that it remains in the atmosphere. Methane pollution is also responsible for more than 25 percent of the climate change Pennsylvania experiences today.

Oil and gas operations in Pennsylvania release hundreds of thousands of tons of methane pollution each year alongside smog-forming volatile organic compounds as well as toxic and cancer-causing air pollutants like benzene.

Last month, tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians testified in support of strong oil and gas methane rules as the Environmental Protection Agency wrapped-up a public comment period on its draft proposal. The EPA is expected to finalize its oil and gas methane rules by the end of the summer.

The draft rules include key provisions such as monitoring at all oil and gas well sites – including at low-producing wells with failure-prone equipment that produce just 6% of the nation’s oil and gas but 50% of site-level methane emissions – and a transition to zero-emission pneumatic devices, in addition to third-party monitoring for super-emitter emission events.

Advocates continue to press EPA to expand retrofit requirements for pneumatic pumps designed to pollute, which are the industry’s No. 2 source of methane emissions, and to end pollution from the routine flaring of associated gas, a common problem in oil fields that contributes to climate change and ozone pollution across multiple states.

The ad will run on local Pittsburgh-area broadcast TV stations over the next week as well as streaming platforms and online digital media over the next month.

Clean Air Council and the Environmental Health Project also co-sponsored the ad campaign.

Pennsylvanians who want to support efforts to finalize strong oil and gas methane rules can do so at EDF’s Tell EPA To Slash Climate Change-Causing Methane Emissions webpage.

Related Articles - PA Oil & Gas Methane Pollution:

-- The Guardian: One Of The Worst Global Methane Leaks In 2022 Was In PA - Equitrans In Cambria County; Routine Abandonment, Non-Compliance Of Conventional Gas Wells [PaEN]

-- DEP Methane Overflight Research Study Resulted In Voluntary Reductions In Oil & Gas, Landfill Facilities; Coal Industry Uncooperative [PaEN]

-- EDF: Conventional Gas Wells In Allegheny National Forest Leaked Over 6 Billion Cubic Feet Of Natural Gas In 2019; Conventional Operators Seek To Block Methane Limits [PaEN]

-- Scranton Times Editorial: Lower Boom On Natural Gas Leaks, Audit Abandoned Gas Well Capping [PaEN]

-- DEP Has Ordered A ‘Top To Bottom Review’ Of How It Regulates Underground Natural Gas Storage Areas As A Result Of The Equitrans Gas Leak In Cambria County In Nov. [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Orders To Equitrans To Plug Additional Wells At Cambria County Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility, Bring Other Wells Up To Current Casing Standards And Take Other Actions [PaEN]

-- Equitrans/DEP In Discussions To Resolve EHB Appeal Of DEP’s Order To Fix Cambria County Underground Natural Gas Storage Area Conventional Access Wells [PaEN]

-- UPDATED: After 14 Days, Efforts To Stop A Natural Gas Leak At A Cambria County Underground Gas Storage Area Have Apparently Been Successful [PaEN]

-- York County-based Evangelical Environmental Network: 100,000+ Pro-Life Evangelicals Support Strong Oil & Gas Facility Methane Limits [PaEN]

-- EQB Overwhelmingly Approves Emergency Regulation Setting VOC/Methane Limits For Conventional Oil & Gas Facilities; Republicans Vote Against [PaEN]

-- EQB Adopts Part I Of Reg. Reducing Oil & Gas VOC/Methane Emissions; 80% Of Methane Emissions Come From Conventional Oil & Gas Facilities; IRRC Considers July 21 [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - March 11 to 17; Fracking 2 Wells Interfered With Another Shale Gas Well In Westmoreland County [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - March 18 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posts 62 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In March 18 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Compliance Reports

-- Feature: 60 Years Of Fracking, 20 Years Of Shale Gas: Pennsylvania’s Oil & Gas Industrial Infrastructure Is Hiding In Plain Sight [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Failed To File Annual Production/Waste Generation Reports For 61,655 Wells; Attorney General Continues Investigation Of Road Dumping Wastewater [PaEN]

-- DEP Issued 754 Notices Of Violation For Defective Oil & Gas Well Casing, Cementing, The Fundamental Protection Needed To Prevent Gas Migration, Groundwater & Air Contamination, Explosions [PaEN]

-- DEP Report Finds: Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Routinely Abandon Wells; Fail To Report How Millions Of Gallons Of Waste Is Disposed; And Non-Compliance Is An ‘Acceptable Norm’ [PaEN]

-- DEP 2021 Oil & Gas Program Annual Report Shows Conventional Oil & Gas Operators Received A Record 610 Notices Of Violation For Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industry Has Record Year: Cost, Criminal Convictions Up; $3.1 Million In Penalties Collected; Record Number Of Violations Issued; Major Compliance Issues Uncovered; Evidence Of Health Impacts Mounts [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- PA Capital-Star Guest Essay: Why Your Electric/Natural Gas Utility Bill Has Gone Up And What You Can Do About It - By Patrick Cicero, Consumer Advocate Of PA, Terrance Fitzpatrick, Energy Assn. Of PA [Natural Gas Prices Tripled]

-- Wall Street Journal: Why Natural Gas Bills Are Going Crazy, With No End In Sight

-- Marcellus Drilling News: New Fortress Energy Reapplying For Wyalusing LNG Natural Gas Plant Permits In Bradford County [PaEN]

-- U.S. DOT Misses Deadline To Suspend Rule Allowing Shipping LNG Natural Gas By Rail, Including A Proposal In PA [PaEN]

-- Federal Court Rules Challenge To DEP Air Quality Permit For Adelphia Natural Gas Pipeline' Quakertown Compressor Station May Go Forward [PaEN]

-- Environmental Groups Appeal DEP Permits For Transco Regional Energy Access Expansion Natural Gas Pipeline In Luzerne, Monroe Counties [PaEN]

-- DEP To Submit Letter Of Intent To EPA As Early As This Week For Primacy To Regulate Underground Injection Wells [PaEN]

-- PA Business Groups Urge EPA To Speed Up Approval Of State Primacy Applications For Injection Well Regulation [PaEN]

-- Equitrans/DEP In Discussions To Resolve EHB Appeal Of DEP’s Order To Fix Cambria County Underground Natural Gas Storage Area Conventional Access Wells [PaEN]

-- Shell Petrochemical Plant Had 3-Hour Emergency Flaring Event To Burn Off Flammable Gases In Beaver County [PaEN]

-- Commonwealth Court Rules PUC Is ‘Obligated’ To Conduct An Environmental Review Of Projects By The Environmental Rights Amendment In Case Involving A PECO Natural Gas Pumping Station In Delaware County [PaEN]

-- Environmental Health Project: 75% Of Hazardous Waste Accepted At MAX Environmental Yukon Facility In Westmoreland County Comes From Shale Gas Industry; Sludge Proposed To Be Delisted As Hazardous Waste [PaEN]

-- Marcellus Drilling News/Wellsboro Gazette: Pine Creek Headwaters Protection Group Objects To Location Of Mt. Nessmuk Shale Gas Drill Pad In Tioga State Forest [PaEN]