Over Sixty Groups Urge Pruitt Not to Suspend Methane Pollution Rule

(Washington, DC – May 26, 2017) A national coalition of conservation, public health, labor, and faith organizations representing millions of Americans is strongly urging EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt not to suspend a crucial safeguard that requires oil and gas companies to find and fix leaks from their facilities—a step that would allow industry to pump thousands of tons of harmful methane pollution into the air and take away important protections that protect communities. Companies must currently comply with the requirements by June 3, 2017, but Administrator Pruitt recently promised the oil and gas lobby he would stay the standards.

States, including Colorado and Wyoming, have already instituted similar rules that effectively leverage common-sense technologies that monitor emissions and find and fix leaks. The methane New Source Performance Standards for the Oil and Natural Gas Sector adopted last year reduces harmful pollution by requiring operators to find and fix leaks using technologies and practices that have been deployed effectively by states and companies.

Today, over 60 national, regional, state, and local organizations representing a wide range of constituents sent a letter to Pruitt, urging him not to suspend these critical clean air measures.

 “Suspending these requirements would allow thousands of newly-drilled or modified wells and compressor stations across the country to continue leaking large volumes of this harmful air pollution, posing serious health risks to communities, families, and workers,” said the group in the letter. “Such an action would leave the people living and working in these communities unprotected while delaying modest compliance expenditures by the oil and gas companies that own and operate new and modified wells—expenditures that represent a tiny fraction of these companies’ tens of billions of dollars in annual revenues.”