Pollution in Pennsylvania

The Threat of Oil and Gas Pollution

Analysis emphasises remedies as it uncovers the full extent of Pennsylvania’s methane emissions. According to an updated analysis, Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry produces more than 1.1 million tonnes of methane annually. More than 15 times as much as what businesses submit to the state.

The analysis looks at the total amount of methane and volatile organic compounds emitted from oil and gas sites and is based on peer-reviewed research and emissions data gathered at Pennsylvania well sites. These pollutants endanger public health and contribute to global warming.

Despite widespread scientific agreement that existing fossil fuel pollution must be significantly reduced to prevent the most catastrophic effects of climate change, Pennsylvania’s fast growing oil and gas industry is emitting massive amounts of greenhouse gases. This includes methane, which over a 20-year time frame is 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

At the same time, the towns close to oil and gas operations face a threat to their air pollutants. The primary cause is an increase in methane and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) pollution, which a growing body of scientific evidence links to a variety of health issues.

Policymakers (and the general public) yet continue to believe that state and federal governments have the motivation and the means to effectively manage a complicated and damaging industry, in spite of these tendencies. Earthworks’ extensive fieldwork and study have shown that this is not the situation in reality.

Currently, state regulatory and enforcement agencies are:

• Inconsistent and insufficient in how they respond to the public
• Primarily focused on issuing permits quickly
• lacking resources and personnel
• subject to the oil and gas sector’s political sway

Field Investigations by Earthworks: Tracking Pollution to Save the Planet and People

Since agencies are failing in their duty to stop the oil and gas industry from endangering people and the planet, Earthworks established Field Investigations. Since most air pollution from oil and gas operations is invisible, businesses and regulators find it simple to brush off people’ worries. Certified thermographers from Earthworks employ optical gas imaging (OGI) to highlight the pollution in oil and gas fields that results from deliberate safety releases, equipment malfunctions, and operator errors.

Field Investigators use this OGI evidence to identify regulatory flaws in state agencies’ oversight of oil and gas air pollution and to submit formal regulatory complaints to the appropriate state agency. Given that some states have already made the commitment to cut back on oil and gas pollution and that more are doing so, now is the time to do it.

The findings of the field team’s work in Pennsylvania between 2018 and 2020 are described in this report.

The majority of state regulatory organisations have a complaints procedure. If correctly planned and implemented, citizens can act as the “eyes and ears” of the government, alerting officials to issues at oil and gas sites while also receiving the aid they require.

Complaint systems must be easily available, intuitive to use, responsive, and transparent for oil and gas regulatory regimes to be successful in preventing pollution and safeguarding the public.

Robust complaint systems can help to:

• Reduce pollution that is bad for the environment and human health.
• Create trust in the organisations tasked with serving the public and collaborating with industry.
• Respond to the issues and experiences of the community.
• Boost the efficiency of government organisations.
• Promote operator and agency accountability

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