Moms in America Are Teaming Up to Shut Down The Dangerous ‘Orphaned Wells’ Across Country

The planet's future is slipping away as nature is ravaged one piece at a time. In the past few years, reckless human activity has spurred a tailspin of devastation that is slowly eating up the environment. And so, a group of millions of moms is stepping on the streets, geared with drones, methane sensors, backpack magnetometers, and gas-detecting vehicles, on a mission to protect their coming generations against climate change and air pollution. Hello, this is Moms Clean Air Force (MCAF).

Patrice Tomcik, senior national field director for MCAF and a mom based in Pennsylvania, extracted around 250 “orphan wells” in the region last year. Orphan wells, which are essentially capped chambers of oil or tunnels of gas, were peppered across an area of eight square miles. "Many of these wells can be found in basements, under driveways, in parking lots, in parks, and more," Tomcik shared with The Cool Down.

Like Tomcik, over 1.6 million moms across the country are part of this MCAF, a community initiated with the mission to protect children from climate change and air pollution. The mission spans areas like Montana, California, Texas, Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Illinois, Florida, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Maryland, according to a video by MCAF. "This is a public health and safety issue that needs to be addressed," Tomcik shared.

Like these underground shafts abandoned by the oil and gas industries, countless elements are lingering in the environment that prompted these moms to step on the streets, in the first place. The more fossil fuels humans burn, the more emissions there are of greenhouse gases. And the more gases are emitted, the greater is the intensity of floods, fires, hurricanes, and chemical disasters, including factory explosions, melting pipelines, and toxic gas releases. Plastics and petrochemicals only add more concern to the already alarming issue.

"Orphan wells put the health and safety of those who live nearby at risk because they can leak oil, gases, and other toxic chemicals into the air, soil, and water," Tomcik explained, "Families who live near orphaned wells are at an increased risk of exposure to pollution, including methane and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene. Benzene can cause cancer and affect the nervous, immune, and respiratory systems." Their initiative, she said, has spurred a new wave of change powered by environmental protection.

According to the video, MCAF has catalyzed this change by developing stronger protections from some of the top pollution-causing factors, including the smog that harms the lungs, toxic chemicals lingering in everyday life, mercury that harms developing brains, pollution that drifts across state lines, traffic pollution, and other types of pollution that cause climate change.

“We have come so far,” they said. “We’re working to make sure all children get to breathe clean air. We are meeting community groups and elected officials. We are teaching everyone how air pollution and climate change harm our children.” Listing some of the events they usually organize to inspire this change, Danielle Berkowitz-Sklar, Project Manager at National Events, added, “electric school bus, webinars, and press conferences.”

“And we are just getting started,” the team said in the video, “Tell Washington, Listen to your mothers!”

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