Federal and state environmental authorities are reporting a low compliance rate in 60 percent of oil and gas facilities in the New Mexico Permian Basin.
The Permian Basin, located in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico, is the largest oil resource in the United States, producing millions of barrels a day.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) published their reports on their April inspections of 124 facilities, finding that 75 of those facilities were in violation of the Clean Air Act (CAA) with Volatile Emission Compounds (VOCs), the EPA said in a July 5 press release.
These 124 facilities fall under the umbrella of eight companies, which include XTO Energy, Chevron, and Marathon.
Of those facilities, 112 operate in communities in which there are concerns over environmental justice due to high emissions, the EPA said.
According to the EPA, VOCs are the source of smog, which causes asthma, bronchitis, lung infections, and cancer.
“The results of our federal and state oil and gas investigations are cause for alarm, with a meager 40% compliance rate,” said James Kenney, the environmental cabinet secretary for the NMED.“With the impacts of climate change ravaging our state and air quality degrading, we have no choice but to increase sanctions on polluters until we see a commitment to change behavior.”
EPA’s Strategic Plan
The investigation is a part of the EPA’s fiscal year 2022 to 2026 Strategic Plan established by the Government Performance and Results Act Modernization Act of 2010 that intended to lay out a plan “for accomplishing EPA’s environmental priorities over the next four years.”“This Strategic Plan deepens EPA’s commitment to protecting human health and the environment for all people, with an emphasis on historically overburdened and underserved communities,” the EPA said. “For the first time, EPA’s final Strategic Plan includes a new strategic goal focused solely on addressing climate change and an unprecedented goal to advance environmental justice and civil rights.”
In June, the EPA announced an $850 million project “that will help monitor, measure, quantify and reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector as a part of President Biden’s Investing in America Strategy.”
According to the EPA, oil and natural gas facilities are the nation’s largest industrial source of methane, which it describes as a “climate ’super pollutant' that is many times more potent than carbon dioxide.” Methane is responsible for approximately one third of the warming from greenhouse gases, according to the agency.
The EPA called the Inflation Reduction Act “the largest climate investment in history” that will lead to cleaner air, more jobs, and a reduction of “waste and inefficiencies” in the oil and gas industry.
In March 2024, the EPA issued its Final Rule on emission standards for oil and gas facilities that include mandating the reduction of greenhouse gases and VOCs.
Several oil and gas advocacy groups and states responded to the rule with petitions and lawsuits.
‘Overly Burdensome’
The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), an oil and gas advocacy group, sent a letter in June to the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies criticizing the EPA’s final rule. In their letter, the IPAA said the rule doesn’t consider many important factors, including the “extraordinary damage” they say it will cause to “thousands of marginal oil and gas wells.”The IPAA called the EPA’s Final Rule an “overly burdensome” restriction that will harm not only large company facilities but also small providers.
“Many of these small family businesses will be forced to close their wells, resulting in the loss of thousands of good paying jobs, and harming the millions of people who rely on their energy output,” the IPAA said.
The Epoch Times contacted XTO Energy, Chevron, and Marathon for comment on the EPA’s report.
