(WKBN) – A settlement between the U.S. EPA, the Department of Justice and two gas and oil producers in Pennsylvania will include over $6 million in civil penalties for violating the Clean Air Act.
Hilcorp Energy will have to pay a penalty of $1.275 million and take action to reduce harmful emissions at its oil gas production facilities in Mercer and Lawrence counties.
The Hilcorp settlement is in connection to allegations that the company failed to comply with federal and state requirements to capture and control air emissions from six of its oil and gas production facilities in Lawrence and Mercer counties.
A map of Hilcorp wells shows one in Mercer County and five in Lawrence County.
Hilcorp will also retrofit at least 164 pneumatic controllers that emit pollution with non-emitting process controllers at eight of the company’s local facilities.
XTO Energy, which operates in Butler County and 12 other Pennsylvania counties, will have to pay $4 million in penalties and will also have to take compliance measures on emissions.
The XTO settlement resolves allegations that it failed to comply with federal and state requirements to capture and control air emissions from 11 of its oil and gas production facilities in Butler County. The EPA identified the alleged violations through field investigations conducted in 2018 and 2019.
Investigators say the companies created smog that reduced air quality and released methane that is a “near-term” driver of climate change, according to Assistant Administrator David Uhlmann for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance.
“These settlements are the latest in EPA’s urgent efforts to limit the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change and hold corporate polluters accountable for jeopardizing public health,” he said.
XTO was also ordered to identify the heaviest polluting abandoned oil and gas wells in Western Pennsylvania and spend at least $1.4 million to plug or remediate them. Many are a significant source of methane, regulators said.
Hicorp is privately owned and headquartered in Houston, Texas. It has active operations in Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming.
XTO is a subsidiary of ExxonMobil and holds interest in more than 50,000 oil and gas wells, including the Butler County facility.
