fracking & your air

Oil and gas operations in the U.S. produce significant air pollution – everything from drilling to the production and processing of natural gas affects our air. In fact, the oil and gas industry releases millions of pounds of pollutants like methane, benzene, and sulfur dioxide into our air each year.

Gas Drilling Operations

These toxins pose a threat to our air quality and contribute to serious health problems like asthma, cancer, and neurological issues. Currently more than half of Pennsylvanians live in an area that doesn’t meet federal air quality standards for smog and nearly 800,000 suffer from asthma. 

Federal air pollution standards for drilling are woefully outdated. In July the EPA proposed new safeguards to reduce air pollution from the oil and natural gas industry to get us back on track.

We need to speak out in support of strong federal standards on air pollution from gas drilling operations!

The proposed safeguards would:

• Set a standard for new pollution sources that would cut smog-forming Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) by one-quarter across the industry.
• Create an air toxics standard for production & natural gas transmission & storage to reduce our exposure to carcinogens and other toxins.
• Indirectly reduce methane emissions from new and modified wells, which will help combat global warming.

While a step in the right direction, the proposed regulations could be strengthened by:

• Directly regulating methane
• Requiring the use of best available technology in all oil and gas operations
• Improving monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements
• Regulating all significant emissions sources like frac pits.
• Regulating all relevant air pollutants, especially hydrogen sulfide
• Prohibiting “flaring” or burn-off un-captured gas.