The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice have announced a more than $16 million settlement with Ovintiv USA Inc., resolving Clean Air Act violations at the company’s oil and gas production facilities on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation in Utah and on Utah state lands.
The settlement requires Ovintiv, a Denver-based petroleum company, to pay the United States and the state of Utah a civil penalty of $5.5 million. It also requires Ovintiv to implement extensive compliance measures to achieve major reductions in pollutants emitted from 139 of its facilities across the state.
The settlement resolves a civil suit, filed jointly by the EPA and the state of Utah, alleging that Ovintiv failed to comply with federal and state requirements to capture and control air emissions and comply with inspection, monitoring and recordkeeping requirements from 22 of its oil and gas production facilities in the Uinta Basin. These violations resulted in illegal emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which contribute to asthma and increase susceptibility to respiratory illnesses. Greenhouse gases, including methane, were also released in large quantities, contributing to climate change.
“This settlement reduces pollutants that contribute to ground-level ozone in the Uintah and Ouray Reservation communities and beyond that are already overburdened by health impacts from ozone,” said EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker. “We are proud to bring a strong enforcement presence to areas that are disproportionately impacted by air pollution released by the oil and gas industry.”
Along with the civil penalty, the settlement requires Ovintiv to take corrective action and mitigation projects estimated to cost over $10 million at 139 of its facilities that will eliminate over 2,000 tons of VOC emissions annually. It will also eliminate methane emissions equivalent to a reduction of over 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, a reduction similar to taking nearly 13,000 gas-powered cars off the road each year.
“This case is a win for the environment and for consumers,” said Todd Kim, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The work required under the consent decree will significantly reduce the amount of gas Ovintiv facilities vent into the atmosphere and return some of that gas to the sales pipeline where it can be sent to productive use.”
The settlement requires Ovintiv to invest in extensive compliance measures for the proper design of Ovintiv’s oil and gas facilities to capture all VOC emissions and send the emissions to an appropriate control device. Compliance measures also include periodic infrared camera inspections, enhanced maintenance requirements and installation of storage tank pressure monitors at many facilities.