Oil and gas operators were put on notice that state regulators in New Mexico planned to redouble efforts to enforce air pollution restrictions, using a combination of satellite, air and on-the-ground monitoring this month.
The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) said Thursday it found only 50 percent of oil and gas facilities in the state complied with the agency’s air quality regulations between July 2022 and July 2023, after new rules were enacted last year.
These called for more stringent leak detection and monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by oil and gas facilities throughout New Mexico, chemicals that form cancer-causing ground-level ozone – also known as smog.
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The rules were designed to curb New Mexico’s ozone pollution, and avoid a federal designation being considered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to list the entire Permian Basin in southeast New Mexico and West Texas in violation of national air standards.
Several counties in New Mexico showed ozone levels near or higher than the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS), NMED reported Thursday, potentially triggering federal action to restrict future oil and gas production.
The NAAQS set a limit 70 parts per billion (ppb) limit on ozone, and Eddy County in the Permian Basin region had an average concentration of 78 ppb in 2020, and 77 ppb in 2021 and 2022.
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Neighboring Lea County was at 68 ppb in 2020 and 66 ppb in 2021 and 2022.
San Juan and Sandoval Counties in the San Juan Basin both had concentrations ranging from 68 and 70 ppb during those three years.
Those rural oilfield counties rivaled the air pollution of New Mexico’s denser, urban areas with Bernalillo Count ranging from 71 to 73 ppb between 2020 and 2022, records show, and Dona Ana County ranging from 78 to 81 ppb during that same time frame.
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But operators continued to flout state and federal guidelines, said NMED Cabinet Secretary James Kenney, necessitating stronger action from the State to seek out and punish violators.
That’s why NMED recently issued large fines to several oil and gas companies that operate throughout the state in both of its fossil fuel regions.
This included the state’s biggest-ever air pollution fine, about $42.3 million levied against operator Ameredev II in July for violations at multiple facilities in Lea County.
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“Despite record fines levied and collected against the oil and natural gas industry – many operators are not taking compliance with federal and state air quality rules and permits seriously,” Kenney said in a statement.
Starting in October, NMED planned to increase its collection of air monitoring data from the Permian Basin and in the northwest San Juan Basin where air quality also drew concerns amid heavy natural gas production.
Violators could be referred to the EPA and U.S. Department of Justice, Kenney said, for further enforcement actions potentially leading to fines and revocation of permits extraction companies need to operate.
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New Mexico’s Environmental Crimes Task Force could also be called on to address any believed criminal activity associated with air pollution from oil and gas, read an NMED news release.
Companies can perform self-audits and report any known violations to the State, but NMED Compliance and Enforcement Director Bruce Baizel said that’s not enough to ensure the industry truly follows the law.
“Given the poor compliance rates and rising ozone levels, there are far too few company audits and self-disclosures occurring within the oil and natural gas industry in New Mexico,” he said.
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Oil and gas industry supporter Power the Future questioned the tighter state regulations as likely raising the industry’s operational costs, and thus the price of energy for New Mexico and American consumers.
The group’s Santa Fe-based spokesperson Larry Behrens contended gas prices paid at the pump were more than 50 percent higher than before Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham took office in 2019, bringing with her increased environmental priorities.
“It’s clear Gov. Lujan Grisham’s Environment Department is more concerned with getting money than getting things right,” Behrens said.
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