New Mexicans Testify at EPA Hearing: Donna Detweiler

EPA Methane Pollution rules hearing statement, November 30, 2021

Good evening, Protectors of the Environment!

I am Donna Detweiler in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Honored to share with you my perspective as a landlord.

My tenants and I use methane (as natural gas) every day to heat water, heat air, heat food. We are grateful for the modest cost of this fuel and would be sad if it were no longer available to us. We are disturbed, however, that some of this precious energy is being wasted in flaring and in leakage from wells and pump or compressor stations. We are also disturbed that methane hurts the health of those directly subjected to breathing it as well as the health of the biosphere that nurtures each of us. We already have methane leaking from thawing permafrost so cannot afford to bleed any more into our common air space without eventually annihilating ourselves. And because NM greenhouse gas emissions have risen 50% under the current administration, we desperately need to get this under control!

So when one of my tenants smells a gas leak, they call NM Gas Company to find the source and then me to get it fixed. I could be tempted to say, “Oh, just open the window.” Or, “If you don’t like living around gas leaks, find another home.” Or “The average leakage of all the apartments together is really quite small and plumbers charge bucubucks for their services.” Tempting as these responses might be, I just fix the leaks. I encourage you to do likewise. I am calling on you to sniff for methane (i.e., step up the monitoring at every stage of its capture and transport) and to make sure the leaks get fixed forthwith, regardless of whether the US Senate passes a methane fee.

I ask your indulgence to take this landlord analogy one last step. I have the responsibility as apt manager to call out tenants who endanger the health or safety of their neighbors. Like if a tenant is running a meth lab, I can go to court for damages, and if they don’t stop the hazardous activity, I can evict them. Now they might offer me chocolates or extra rent under the table to overlook the transgression, but I wouldn’t want to expose myself to the liability of taking it. Not saying that you folks take kickbacks, but the State of NM does in the form of royalties from oil and gas. And I urge you to rule for the welfare of the community as a whole – its air, land, and water – over its methane labs. Thanks so much for taking your responsibilities as landlords seriously!