DEADLINE TODAY AT 5PM! Tell the U.S. EPA not to let drillers off the hook for emissions during “malfunctions”
Protecting Our Waters just got this last-minute request: With one click you can tell the EPA that corporations MUST be held accountable for toxic, even deadly gas drilling emissions they release. No exceptions. No EPA handout to this rich industry.
Most of the EPA’s proposed revisions to the rules for oil and gas extraction act to limit damage to human health and the environment. There is one provision however that allows drillers not to be held responsible for air pollution emitted during what they call a “malfunction.” Under this provision, EPA will not fine a company if its emissions were from an “unavoidable and unforeseeable” failure of the company’s equipment.
This amounts to an industry handout from EPA, which negates a company’s responsibility to pay the true cost of doing business. This isn’t fair to the people who live in the shale-drilling regions of the country. They are the ones who will have to carry the burden with their lungs, instead of the oil and gas industry carrying the burden with their wallets. The deadly chemicals released into the air have been linked to respiratory issues, cancer and brain damage.
The EPA’s job is to protect public health, not relieve businesses from the cost of ensuring that their pollution does not harm public health and the environment.
Click here to tell the EPA to take away the affirmative defense provision in their proposed oil and gas standards.
Note: if you add one sentence at the beginning of the email message it will add more weight. Here is what I (Iris) added to my message: “Emissions from gas drilling incidents and accidents have made people sick, increased asthma rates, and have contributed to the death of at least one person, Chris Mobaldi (Colorado)…. The best way to avoid an accident is not to drill. If huge corporations do drill, cutting corners and lobbying hard for loopholes and lax regulations, they must pay the price for all their emissions, and they must know ahead of time that they must pay the price.”
If you only have time to click and send Clean Air Council’s message, please do. If you can add one sentence to the beginning, please do! If you have questions please contact:
Matt Walker
Clean Air Council
Community Outreach Coordinator
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Protecting Our Waters 
Epa, protect us!