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WildEarth Guardians Scores Victory for Clean Air in New Mexico
WildEarth Guardians Scores Victory for Clean Air in New Mexico
EPA Overturns Air Pollution Permit Over Failure of State to Account for Pollution from Oil and Gas Wells in San Juan Basin
Contact: Jeremy Nichols (303) 573-4898 x 1303
Additional Contact:
Mike Eisenfeld, San Juan Citizens Alliance New Mexico EnergyCoordinator, (505) 325-6724
Santa Fe, NM—Cleanair in New Mexico took a leap forward yesterday as the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA) announced it is vetoing a state-issued air pollutionpermit allowing Williams Four Corners to operate the Sims Mesa natural gasprocessing plant in the San Juan Basin in northwestern New Mexico.
“The oil and gasindustry has been drilling away clean air in the San Juan Basin for too long,” saidJeremy Nichols, Climate and Energy Program Director for WildEarthGuardians. “This ruling ensures the state of New Mexico confronts thecumulative air pollution from oil and gas operations and starts to fullyprotect public health and the environment.”
The ruling comes in response to a petition filed byWildEarth Guardians and the San Juan Citizens Alliance requesting that the EPAAdministrator, Lisa Jackson, object to the issuance of the permit under theClean Air Act. In her ruling,Administrator Jackson agreed with WildEarth Guardians on all counts, findingthat in issuing the permit for the Sims Mesa Central Delivery Point, which islocated in Rio Arriba County, the New Mexico Environment Department:
- Failed to provide a reasonable basis for notregulating air pollution from the wells that provide natural gas the Sims Mesaprocessing plant;
- Failed to demonstrate that the permit requiresprompt reporting of permit deviations, as required by the Clean Air Act;
- Failed to ensure sufficient monitoring of airpollution from compressor engines and other sources of harmful air pollution;and
- Failed to provide a basis for concluding thatcompliance with the permit would automatically comply with relevant ambient airquality standards.
The ruling sets a significant precedent in New Mexico,setting a new and important standard for all oil and gas facilities in theState. Importantly, it ensuresthat as the State issues air pollution permits allowing natural gas processingplants and compressor stations to operate, it takes a closer look at whetherthe wells that feed those facilities should be regulated together as singlesources of air pollution.
“Instead ofprotecting clean air, the New Mexico Environment Department gave Williams abreak,” said Mike Eisenfeld, New Mexico Energy Coordinator for the San JuanCitizens Alliance. “Thankfully,the EPA intervened and set things straight, holding the Environment Departmentaccountable first and foremost to clean air.”
Currently, natural gas wells are not regulated, even thoughthey are connected to and an interrelated part of processing plants andcompressor stations, and even though cumulatively, natural gas wells releaselarge amounts of air pollution. Inthe San Juan Basin, for example, venting at wells accounts for 46% of allvolatile organic compound emissions released by the oil and gas industry.
Volatile organic compounds are a group of air pollutantsthat include toxics like benzene, a known carcinogen, and that also react withsunlight to form ground-level ozone, the key ingredient of smog. The American Lung Association recentlygave San Juan and Rio Arriba Counties an “F” due to excessive smog pollution.
Given that oil andgas operations are the largest source of volatile organic compounds in the SanJuan Basin of New Mexico, this makes wells the most significant source ofpollution.
The air pollutionpermit was issued to Williams Four Corners under Title V of the Clean Air Act. Under Title V, permits are issued by states, but citizens can petition the EPAto veto them if they fail to comply with the Clean Air Act. WildEarth Guardians and the San JuanCitizens Alliance filed their petition in April of 2010, calling on theAdministrator to veto the Sims Mesa permit.
The State of NewMexico now has 90 days to fix the flaws in the Sims Mesa permit. Although the facility will be allowedto operate, if the state fails to fix the permit as required, EPA will berequired to deny the permit under the Clean Air Act and shut down thefacility.