Energy Company to Spend $18 Million to Reduce Natural Gas Emissions
Kerr-McGee Corp. will spend $18 million on pollution controls in the first comprehensive settlement under the Clean Air Act. These pollution controls will reduce harmful emissions and conserve natural gas at production facilities across Utah and Colorado. The control measures and operational improvements are expected to reduce annual emissions of air pollutants by more than 2,500 tons in Utah and more than 3,000 tons in Colorado.
The settlement, announced by the Justice Department and the EPA, addresses alleged violations discovered at several of Kerr-McGee's natural gas compressor stations located on the Uinta and Ouray Indian Reservation near Vernal, Utah, and in the Denver Julesburg Basin near Weld County, Colo.
"Conserving energy and cutting greenhouse gases is a powerful two-punch combination, said Granta Nakayama, EPA's assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance. "This settlement will save enough natural gas to heat 7,200 homes per year and reduces the impact on climate change equivalent to the planting of more than 60,000 trees."
Kerr-McGee self-disclosed a number of the violations and has worked cooperatively with federal and state regulators to resolve them. The company allegedly violated several provisions of the Clean Air Act, including regulations governing the Prevention of Significant Deterioration, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, and the federal operating permits program under Title V in addition to Colorado state environmental regulations.