WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency says it will
conduct helicopter overflights to look for methane “super emitters” in
the nation’s largest oil and gas producing region. EPA’s Region 6
headquarters in Dallas, Texas, issued a news release about a new
enforcement effort in the Permian Basin on Monday, saying the flights
would occur over the next two weeks. The announcement came four days
after The Associated Press published an investigation that showed 533
oil and gas facilities in the region are emitting excessive amounts of
methane and named the companies most responsible. Colorless and
odorless, methane is a potent greenhouse gas that traps 83 times more
heat in the atmosphere over a 20 year period than an equivalent amount
of carbon dioxide.