Methane Pollution from the Oil & Gas Industry

North Dakotans and Americans alike need EPA’s and BLM’s rules to protect them from methane and other harmful air pollution resulting from oil and gas activities.

Residents of the Fort Berthold Reservation and across North Dakota are already paying the price for oil and gas leaking and venting, and they will continue to do so if we get rid of our vital pollution safeguards.

We know if the federal pollution standards are suspended or repealed, millions across the country will face the same unfair health challenges already impacting Native Americans in the region.

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 If these safeguards are suspended, or even worse repealed, families and children in Texas will undoubtedly face an ever-growing public health crisis from unchecked pollution in their communities, near schools,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.