WildEarth Guardians

Thursday, January 12, 2012
Guardians Files Suit to Rein in Illegal Oil and Gas Industry Air Pollution

Permits Issued by State of New Mexico Threatening Clean Air, Lawsuit Calls for EPA to Intervene
Contact: Jeremy Nichols (303) 573-4898 x 1303

New Mexico—WildEarth Guardians today filed suit to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take over the State of New Mexico’s illegal permitting of air pollution from the oil and gas industry and start protecting clean air.

“The State of New Mexico is willfully allowing the oil and gas industry to illegally pollute the air that we breathe and depend on for health and well-being,” said Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians’ Climate and Energy Program Director.  “Today, we’re calling on the EPA to exercise its basic oversight role and put an end to the State’s practice of putting polluters before clean air.”

At issue is the failure of the New Mexico Environmental Department to revise air pollution permits to meet the Clean Air Act.  On July 29, 2011, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency objected to the issuance of an air pollution permit that allowed Williams Production Company to operate the Sims Mesa natural gas compressor station in Rio Arriba County.  The Sims Mesa compressor station every year spews more than 400 tons of toxic air pollution, including 2.8 tons of benzene and 22 tons of formaldehyde, both known carcinogens.

Essentially a veto, the Administrator found that in issuing the permit, the New Mexico Environment Department:

• Failed to provide a reasonable basis for not regulating air pollution from the wells that provide natural gas the Sims Mesa processing plant;

• Failed to demonstrate that the permit requires prompt reporting of permit deviations, as required by the Clean Air Act;

• Failed to ensure sufficient monitoring of air pollution from compressor engines and other sources of harmful air pollution; and

• Failed to provide a basis for concluding that compliance with the permit would automatically comply with relevant ambient air quality standards.

Under the Clean Air Act, the Environment Department had a choice:  either revise the permit to meet the Administrator’s objection within 90 days or hand over oversight of the permit to the Environmental Protection Agency.  More than 160 days have passed since the Administrator issued her objection, yet the Environment Department still hasn’t revised the permit for the Sims Mesa facility.

Today’s lawsuit challenges the Environmental Protection Agency’s failure to take over and fix the air pollution permit after New Mexico failed to respond to the Administrator’s objection within 90 days.  Ultimately, the Environmental Protection Agency could be forced to deny the permit over its failure to meet the Clean Air Act, which would lead to the shutdown of the compressor station.

“The State had a chance to get it right, but because of their footdragging and unwillingness to ensure that its permit complied with the Clean Air Act, they blew it,” said Nichols.  “All we’re asking for is responsible regulation of air quality and if we can’t get it from the State, then we’ll get it from the EPA.” 

Because other air pollution permits issued for the oil and gas industry by the New Mexico Environment Department suffer from the same illegalities as the Sims Mesa permit, the lawsuit promises to open the door for more Environmental Protection Agency oversight, in turn ensuring clean air.