Clean Up Air Pollution for Our Health

The health community is starkly aware of the harms of oil and gas production. The extraction, transportation, and storage of oil and gas results in the release of methane emissions into the atmosphere at every step in the process, with serious health consequences.

Methane is a greenhouse gas more than 80 times as powerful as carbon dioxide. Climate change is leading to a range of health threats—including longer allergy seasons, increased risks from vector-borne illnesses like Lyme Disease, extreme heat, and more frequent and intense flooding and wildfires. These health impacts are not far-off occurrences. Health professionals right now are responding to the crises created by climate change. Each time an extreme weather event or a wildfire strikes, healthcare systems are disrupted.

Methane is not the only danger from the burning of oil and gas. Alongside methane, air pollutants called volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are emitted. These include gases like benzene and formaldehyde, which are known carcinogens. VOCs increase the risk of developmental and neurological disorders. To make matters worse, they also interact with sunlight to form ground-level ozone pollution, which causes asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, increases in hospital admissions, and premature death.

There are likely children playing outside whose parents would never expect that their health is at risk simply by breathing. An estimated 17.6 million people live within one mile of an oil or gas well, putting them at immediate risk from the air pollutants released along with methane. The situation is like rubbing salt in a wound, because as methane is fueling climate change, climate change is making air pollution worse.

This is why the health community supports the strengthening and rapid finalization of a recent proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency that would clean up pollution from oil and gas wells. Over 50 national, state, and local health organizations submitted comments to EPA urging the quick adoption of a strong rule limiting methane pollution. The agency should improve its proposal to provide greater immediate health benefits by reducing air pollution in the following ways.

First, EPA must require that all wells are subject to frequent leak detection and repair inspections. Some wells near the end of their lifespans are kept running because it is expensive to decommission them. While some of these so-called “stripper wells” are low emitters, others emit higher levels of methane, and it’s difficult to predict which is which. Therefore, a broadly applicable system of monitoring and repair is necessary.

Second, routine flaring must be prohibited. Flaring is a widely used practice to dispose of methane that is not captured. The process can still result in emissions of methane and VOCs if the gas is not completely combusted. Even when combustion is complete, flaring methane gas still releases carbon dioxide. Flaring also generates nitrogen oxide emissions, which pose an immediate threat to health in communities near the site and can react to form ozone and particulate matter pollution in the atmosphere.

Oil and gas wells are disproportionately placed in low-income communities and communities of color. That means that exposure to the air pollution released alongside methane are compounding other social determinants of health that often negatively impact residents. It’s imperative that frontline communities are included, consulted, and collaborated with when it comes to actions that could alleviate—or worsen—their exposure.

And lastly, EPA has a responsibility to clean up abandoned wells that continue to release methane even when they are not actively used. While this issue of cleaning up orphaned wells is not within the scope of the most recent EPA proposal to reduce methane, it’s a problem in need of greater attention.

In order to best protect public health now and into the future, the country needs to accelerate toward zero-emission transportation and power sectors. And when I say zero-emission, I mean zero-emission. It would be a false solution to focus on reducing greenhouse gases by shifting to sources that still emit air pollution. Energy sources like biomass burning still put the health of nearby communities at risk from harmful air pollution.

The science is clear. We have an extremely short window of time to act if we are to prevent catastrophic climate impacts. Cleaning up methane pollution is a critical part of the solution. The good news is—we have proven technology to cut methane pollution from the oil and gas sector! And better news, we know that when we cut methane, we also reduce additional pollution that causes illness and even death. Federal limits to curb methane emissions from the oil and gas sector could be a huge win for Americans’ health, if we are bold enough to take action.

Liz Scott is the national advocacy director for healthy air at the American Lung Association, where she pushes for science-based clean air and climate protections in federal policy.