April 29 – A Texas oil company has agreed to pay $24.5 million in a settlement with state regulators for excessive flaring that released massive pollutants that threatened the environment and public health.
The state Department of Environment reached an agreement with Austin, Texas-based Ameredev after the company initially levied $40.3 million in fines last year.
Regulators found that Ameredev had flared about 3.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas between 2018 and 2020, emitting huge amounts of pollutants, including enough carbon dioxide — a potent greenhouse gas — to heat 16,640 homes in a year.
The move marks the largest settlement of an enforcement action by the agency in years.
“This settlement makes one thing crystal clear: Companies that pollute our air will pay for skirting New Mexico’s rules,” the governor said. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “Today’s settlement is about punishing bad actors in an effort to protect communities from breathing harmful pollution.”
Flaring released a total of 7.6 million pounds of toxic byproducts. The main pollutants were hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds.
These pollutants can impair breathing and cognitive ability and, in high doses, cause heart and lung problems. Carbon dioxide contributes to climate change.
In a statement, Ameredev officials said they were pleased the issue had been resolved, adding that the company looks forward “to continuing to work responsibly with the State of New Mexico and regional stakeholders to advance the state’s economic development and support American energy security.”
In the past four years, Ameredev has had no other incidents where flaring caused excessive emissions, the company said, attributing this to technological improvements and more efficient operations.
In addition to the cash settlement, Ameredev also agreed to:
—Conduct a third-party compliance audit of their operations at all of its New Mexico facilities.
—Submit monthly reports on emissions rates at New Mexico sites operating under permits or letters of intent.
—Conduct weekly optical gas imaging inspections for each New Mexico facility for two years or implement advanced leak and repair monitoring technology.
After the unlawful flaring was discovered, Ameredev engaged an outside contractor to review the data. The findings were reported to the state environment department’s air quality bureau.
Officials determined that Ameredev had extracted oil and natural gas without any way to transport it to a midstream pipeline as required by state law. Instead, the company flared the natural gas, causing the pollution.
The Environment Department and the Oil Conservation Division have taken separate enforcement actions.
Ameredev failed to submit required production and natural gas waste reports showing the state’s compliance with the fossil fuel waste rule, the division said at the time.
In a statement, Environment Secretary James Kenney said the agency is now using remote sensing technology, on-site inspections and citizen complaints to catch violators.
“Let this serve as a wake-up call to the oil and gas industry,” Kenney said. “The only option to avoid enforcement is to comply with state regulations and permits.”
