The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice announced on July 11 a settlement with Marathon Oil resolving Clean Air Act violations at the company’s oil and gas production operations on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota.
The settlement requires that Marathon pay a civil penalty of $64.5 million, the largest ever for violations of the Clean Air Act at stationary sources, which include facilities such as oil and gas tank systems. Under the settlement agreement, Marathon will implement extensive compliance measures to achieve major reductions in harmful emissions from more than 200 facilities across the state.
The case is the first of its kind against an oil and gas producer for violations of major source emissions permitting requirements under the Clean Air Act’s Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program. The complaint alleges that these and other Clean Air Act violations at nearly 90 Marathon facilities resulted in thousands of tons of illegal pollution, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbon monoxide, which contribute to asthma and increase susceptibility to respiratory illnesses. Additionally, greenhouse gases, including methane, were released in large quantities, contributing to climate change.
While Marathon is the nation’s 22nd largest producer of oil based on 2022 data, it is the 7th largest emitter of greenhouse-gas emissions in the oil and gas industry. A large portion of these emissions come from flaring. The work that Marathon will do under this agreement is expected to result in the equivalent of more than 2.25 million tons of reduced carbon dioxide emissions over the next 5 years, similar to the number of reductions achieved by taking 487,000 cars off the road for 1 year. The settlement will also eliminate nearly 110,000 tons of VOC emissions.
“Today’s record Clean Air Act settlement is the most significant to date under EPA’s climate enforcement initiative and makes clear that EPA will hold corporate polluters like Marathon accountable for violations that put communities and our futures at risk,” said David M. Uhlmann, assistant administrator the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “The $64.5 million Clean Air Act penalty and the substantial measures Marathon must take to reduce its harmful air emissions demonstrate that EPA will not allow oil and gas companies to put corporate profits ahead of protecting communities and the environment. As a result of today’s settlement, Marathon will dramatically cut its emissions of methane, a climate super-pollutant that is dozens of times more potent in the near term than carbon dioxide. EPA is committed to doing everything possible to limit climate change and promote a sustainable future.”
“This historic settlement—the largest ever civil penalty for violations of the Clean Air Act at stationary sources—will ensure cleaner air for the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation and other communities in North Dakota, while holding Marathon accountable for its illegal pollution,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The agreement requires Marathon to invest in extensive compliance measures estimated to cost $177 million, much of which is expected to be implemented by the end of 2024. The settlement requires Marathon to obtain permits with federally enforceable emissions limits at production facilities on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation and future operations in the state of North Dakota. Compliance measures also include flare monitoring, periodic infrared camera inspections, and implementation of storage tank design requirements.
The complaint alleges that Marathon failed to obtain required preconstruction permits under the PSD program and operating permits under the Title V program, which represents a larger industry practice of permitting avoidance that is coming under tighter scrutiny.
The settlement is part of the 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.
The consent decree was filed with the United States District Court, District of North Dakota, Western Division, and is subject to a 30-day comment period. The complaint and the proposed consent decree are available on the Justice Department’s Proposed Consent Decree web page.
More information on the settlement agreement is available on the Agency’s Marathon Oil Company 2024 Clean Air Act Stationary Source Settlement web page.
The complaint also alleges failure to comply with storage tank design, operation and maintenance requirements at facilities on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. The settlement requires Marathon to obtain permits for its existing facilities on the Reservation and for new facilities it builds in North Dakota. These actions will cap VOC emissions at under 100 tons per year.
The settlement further requires auditor checks on Marathon’s permit applications and ongoing audits of emissions from its facilities. Marathon must temporarily stop production if facilitywide emissions limits are exceeded or if flares are not operating properly.
In addition to three other projects to reduce emissions, Marathon will purchase two infrared cameras for use by the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation during oil and natural gas production facility inspections.
A major part of this case is the reduction of flaring at the facility. Flaring burns harmful natural gas components such as VOCs and methane, but the process is not 100% efficient. These inefficiencies, combined with improper flare operation, result in excess emissions being released to the atmosphere and can have health impacts on the surrounding communities.