Marathon Oil Company has agreed to a $241.5m settlement and penalties that are the largest ever given for a breach of the Clean Air Act.
The Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the news as part of a wider set of compliance forced upon the company for breaching the regulations.
The company will pay a record $64.5 million in penalties and will be forced to invest in improved conditions at over 200 facilities across the state of North Dakota.
“The record civil penalty and extensive compliance measures, including an innovative cap on VOC emissions, set a benchmark for the Department’s enforcement efforts at oil and gas production facilities,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer.
Marathon Oil Company paying for breach of Clean Air Act
The monolithic case centers around a breach of the Clean Air Act’s Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program on Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota.
Government watchdogs are scrutinizing the location of the company’s oil and gas production operations, which have now been found to breach federal regulations.
The facilities across the state have reportedly been producing thousands of tons of toxic emissions, greenhouse gasses, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These are also, according to the Justice Department and EPA highly damaging to the local people, animals and land across North Dakota.
Marathon Oil Company were accused of failing to comply with “regulation storage tank design, operation and maintenance requirements at 66 facilities on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation,” according to the release.
“This settlement is a major win for the health and future of our Tribal communities, including people and families who are often overburdened by pollution,” said KC Becker, EPA Region 8 Administrator. “As a result of the agreement, Marathon has and will continue to take comprehensive measures to come into compliance and reduce harmful emissions across hundreds of production sources. These investments will improve air quality and reduce respiratory illnesses across the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation and western North Dakota.”
Marathon will be liable for the $64.5m in penalties, as well as $177 million in required compliance measures that will be enforced by regulators. Over the next five years, the compliance measures will equate to a reduction of pollutants similar to taking 487,000 cars off American roads.
“As a result of today’s settlement, Marathon will dramatically cut its emissions, including the release of methane, a climate super-pollutant that is 25 times more potent in the near term than carbon dioxide. EPA is committed to doing everything possible to limit climate change and ensure a sustainable future,” said Assistant Administrator David M. Uhlmann of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
Image: Ideogram.
