Emissions on tribal lands leads to DOJ settlement

One of North America’s oldest gas and oil operators with origins that date back to the late 1800s was fined by the U.S. Department of Justice more than $16 million for failing to comply with federal and state requirements for its activities on Utah tribal lands and state lands.
The Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced the settlement with Ovintiv USA Inc. to resolve Clean Air Act violations, with an order to pay the United States and the state of Utah a civil penalty of $5.5 million. It also requires Ovintiv to implement extensive compliance measures to achieve major reductions in pollutants emitted from 139 of its facilities across the state.
Specifically, It involves operation of oil and gas production facilities on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation in Utah, as well as Utah school trust lands.
Federal officials say the settlement resolves a civil suit, filed jointly by the United States and the state of Utah, alleging that Ovintiv failed to capture and control air emissions and comply with inspection, monitoring and record keeping requirements from 22 of its oil and gas production facilities in the Uinta Basin. These violations resulted in illegal emissions of volatile organic compounds, which contribute to asthma and increase susceptibility to respiratory illnesses. Additionally, greenhouse gases, including methane, were released in large quantities.
In addition to the civil penalty, the settlement requires Ovintiv to take corrective action and mitigation projects estimated to cost over $10 million at 139 of its facilities that will eliminate over 2,000 tons of volatile organic compounds emissions annually. It will also eliminate methane emissions equivalent to a reduction of over 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, a reduction similar to taking nearly 13,000 gas powered cars off the road each year.
“This case is a win for the environment and for consumers,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The work required under the consent decree will significantly reduce the amount of gas Ovintiv facilities vent into the atmosphere and return some of that gas to the sales pipeline where it can be sent to productive use.”
“As climate change accelerates and wreaks havoc in communities across the nation, EPA is doing everything possible to limit the methane emissions that are among the most powerful drivers of climate change,” said Assistant Administrator David M. Uhlmann of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
The settlement requires Ovintiv to invest in extensive compliance measures for the proper design of Ovintiv’s oil and gas facilities to capture all volatile organic compounds emissions and send the emissions to an appropriate control device. Compliance measures also include periodic infrared camera inspections, enhanced maintenance requirements and installation of storage tank pressure monitors at many facilities
The state Utah Department of Environmental Quality has a program offering infrared cameras to detect such leaks called the ULend program, initially funded with a $200,000 appropriation from the state Legislature in 2017. The Utah Petroleum Association also offers the Latch the Hatch program to help control emissions in another voluntary program.
The settlement is part of EPA’s National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative, Mitigating Climate Change. This initiative focuses, in part, on reducing methane emissions from oil and gas and landfill sources. Like all of EPA’s national enforcement initiatives, this initiative prioritizes communities already overburdened by pollution and other potential environmental justice concerns.
The Uinta Basin, in particular, suffers from high ozone levels in the cold of winter creating public health risks and air quality that is stifling. Two other companies were fined millions two years ago for violations that include leaky tanks and other failures to implement pollution mitigation controls.
More information on this settlement agreement is available on EPA’s webpage at www.epa.gov/enforcement/ovintiv-usa-inc-2024-clean-air-act-stationary-source-case-summary.
The complaint and proposed consent decree were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. The consent decree is subject to a 30-day comment period. A copy of the complaint and the proposed consent decree are available at www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.
The EPA investigated the case and attorneys with the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Enforcement Section are handling the case.