Hydrocarbon exploration company Apache Corporation will pay a fine of $4 million and invest at least another $5.5 million in remediation projects after violating federal and state standards for controlling and capturing emissions at 23 of its oil and gas production operations across New Mexico and Texas.
A press release from the Department of Justice's Office of Public Affairs stated that the New Mexico Environment Department and the U.S. government, on behalf of the EPA, filed a joint civil lawsuit after conducting field investigations and repeated flyover surveillance in 2019, 2020, and 2022.
The two plaintiffs will split the civil penalty of $4 million, while Apache will spend at least another $5.5 million to "ensure 422 of its oil and gas well pads in New Mexico and Texas comply with state and federal clean air regulations and offset past illegal emissions."
Around $4.5 million will be allocated to improving its well pads, such as installing tank pressure monitoring systems that alert workers of potential emissions. The rest of that budget will help replace hundreds of pollutant-emitting pneumatic devices with non-emitting ones.
According to the statement, the settlement should result in an annual reduction of over 9,650 tons of volatile organic compounds and 900 tons of methane. VOCs contribute to ground-level ozone or smog, which can cause lung irritation, worsen preexisting respiratory conditions like asthma, and increase susceptibility to lung diseases like pneumonia and bronchitis.
Meanwhile, the removal of methane — which the CDC estimates is 28 times more effective than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere — is equivalent to over 25,000 tons of carbon pollution or eliminating the use of more than 2.5 million gallons of gas.
"This settlement shows that oil and gas operators deserve greater scrutiny because too many are failing to comply with federal and state rules," said New Mexico environment cabinet secretary James Kenney. "As a result, bad actors will cause greater federal and state regulation of the entire oil and gas industry as ozone levels rise and public health suffers."
"Robust enforcement of Clean Air Act violations at oil and gas facilities protects communities from harmful smog and reduces methane emissions that are major contributors to global climate change," said assistant administrator David M. Uhlmann of EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "Today's agreement demonstrates EPA's commitment to working with our state partners to tackle climate change and improve air quality for everyone living in the United States."
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