Methane Pollution from the Oil & Gas Industry

In many parts of America’s rural countryside, pollution from the booming oil and gas industry is causing an increase in asthma attacks and increased risks of cancer and respiratory diseases. That’s the key finding of a new report released today from Clean Air Task Force (CATF) and Earthworks. 

This report builds on two earlier reports from CATF — Gasping for Breath (2016) and Fossil Fumes (2017) — and Earthworks’ Oil and Gas Threat Map and demonstrates how, even in sparsely populated areas in the West and Midwest, that significant health impacts can be observed.

A new analysis from public data shows that Native American communities often face disproportionate health impacts from air pollution from the oil and gas industry. Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt are seeking to eliminate federal rules designed to limit waste and air pollution from this industry on tribal lands.

American Lung Association’s annual national air quality “report card” State of the Air 2018 uses the most recent air pollution data, compiled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for the two most widespread types of pollution—ozone (smog) and particle pollution (PM_2.5, also known as soot). The report grades counties and ranks cities and counties based on their scores for ozone, year-round particle pollution and short-term particle pollution levels. Since 2000, the American Lung Association has analyzed data from official air quality monitors to compile the “State of the Air” report.

EPA’s New Source methane pollution standards apply to 7,400 “new and modified” oil and gas wells across the state of Texas; in order to reduce toxic emissions and comply with the EPA’s standards, “new and modified” facilities are required to install pollution control equipment when they are first built or when an older facility is modified and to regularly inspect and fix leaky equipment.

Now, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is attempting to suspend these common sense leak detection and repair requirements at the behest of the oil and gas lobby. If these safeguards are suspended, or even worse repealed, families and children in Texas will undoubtedly face an ever-growing public health crisis from unchecked pollution in their communities, near schools, churches, and neighborhoods.

There are compelling reasons to question the use of natural gas (methane), given the risks it poses to human health. This report summarizes recent scientific findings that document methane’s implications for health