New Mexico has reached a record settlement with a Texas-based company over air pollution violations at a natural gas gathering site in the Permian Basin.
The $24.5 million agreement with Ameredeff announced Monday is the largest settlement ever reached by the state Department of Environmental Protection for private oil and gas violations. This is due to an explosion of billions of cubic feet of natural gas that the company extracted over his 18 months but was unable to transport to downstream processors.
Environment Secretary James Kenney said in an interview that the flare gas was enough to supply about 17,000 homes for a year.
A freight train carrying gasoline and propane derails near the Arizona-New Mexico line due to bad weather.
“It’s the exact opposite of how it should be done,” Kenney said. “If they hadn’t wasted New Mexico’s resources, they could have used that gas.”
Combustion, or combustion, of gases generated more than 7.6 million pounds of excess emissions, including hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and other gases known to cause respiratory problems and contribute to climate change. state regulators said.
New Mexico has reached a record settlement over natural gas flaring in the Permian Basin.
Ameredeff said in a statement Monday that he is pleased to have resolved what he described as a “legacy issue” and that the state air agency is not aware of any ongoing compliance issues at the company’s facilities. said.
“This is an issue that we take very seriously,” the company said. “For the past four years, Ameredef has had no flare-related excess emissions events, thanks to significant and continued investment in a variety of advanced technologies and operational enhancements.”
Utilities can vent or flare natural gas during emergencies or equipment failures, but New Mexico introduced rules in 2021 that would ban routine venting and flaring, allowing companies to vent or flare natural gas. The deadline for recovering this percentage has been set as 2026. The rule also requires regular tracking and reporting of emissions.
A study published in Nature in March found that America’s oil and gas wells, pipelines and compressors are emitting more greenhouse gases than the government expected, causing $9.3 billion in climate damage annually. It is estimated that The authors said this is a solvable problem because about half of emissions come from just 1% of oil and gas sites.
Under the settlement, Ameredeff agreed to conduct an independent audit of its New Mexico operations to ensure compliance with emissions requirements. They must also submit monthly reports on actual emission rates, propose a two-year weekly inspection plan, and install leak and repair monitoring devices.
Kenney said it was a citizen complaint that first alerted state regulators to Ameredeff’s abuse.
The Ministry of the Environment is currently investigating a number of other potential pollution violations around the basin, and Mr Kenney said further penalties were likely to be imposed.
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“The oil and gas industry’s average compliance rate with air quality regulations is 50%, and we have a duty to continue to ensure compliance and hold polluters accountable,” he said.
