Regulators order Marathon Oil to pay $64.5M for ‘illegal pollution’ on Fort Berthold Reservation

'This fine just proves what the people of the Fort Berthold Indian reservation have known for a long time'

Marathon Oil Co.’s air quality violations on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation have drawn the largest civil penalty in United States history for flaring activity and emissions from “stationary sources,” federal agencies announced on July 11. The $64.5 million assessment comes as a complaint settlement for creating “thousands of tons of illegal pollution,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the complaint, 86 Marathon oil and gas production operations on Fort Berthold have violated emissions standards and requirements. The facilities release thousands of tons of volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide and methane into the environment – mainly through flaring.

“This fine just proves what the people of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation have known for a long time, especially those of us who live and work in the West Segment, Mandaree,” said Todd Hall, a Three Affiliated Tribes citizen and rancher on Fort Berthold. “That some oil and gas operators are putting profits over people and the land we live on,” he told Buffalo’s Fire.

James Brugh, another citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation who lives on Fort Berthold, was “not surprised because it’s something that I, as an individual, have known that Marathon has been doing for many years,” he said.

Brugh hopes the EPA ruling sets a precedent to begin protecting MHA citizens who constitute the Three Affiliated Tribes. It’s important “anytime you can get [the oil and gas industry] to be accountable, especially for the health of communities, especially minority communities [and] places where we’re being underrepresented.”

The comment period for the consent decree has yet to be scheduled by the United States District Court, District of North Dakota, Western Division. It will be open for 30 days.

The EPA noted that the VOCs released into the atmosphere aggravate asthma symptoms and the risk of respiratory illness, especially for children and older adults. The EPA and DOJ announcement provided no specific data regarding the damage these illegal emissions have done to the environment or tribal community.

Compliance measures involve monitoring by MHA Nation Energy Division

The EPA identified flaring activity and infrastructure as a central source of pollution. From 2012 to 2020, almost 20% of all flaring activity in North Dakota occurred on Fort Berthold, according to a 2022 analysis by the Howard Center for Investigative Reporting.

“Flares at just one Marathon facility burned more than 2 billion standard cubic feet of gas in 12 months,” the complaint states. “This amount is greater than the amount of gas flared across the entire State of Colorado for calendar year 2021.”

Flare monitoring is central to the settlement, which requires Marathon to buy two infrared cameras for the MHA Nation Energy Division. The digital technology is used for inspectors to monitor oil and gas production emissions.

By the end of this year, Marathon Oil must implement compliance measures that will result in 2.25 million fewer tons of carbon monoxide emissions. According to the EPA statement, that’s equivalent to removing almost half a million cars off the road for a year.

It’s important “anytime you can get [the oil and

gas industry] to be accountable, especially for the

health of communities, especially minority communities

[and] places where we’re being underrepresented.”

— James Brugh, Three Affiliated Tribes citizen who lives near Marathon well sites

The agency said requiring Marathon Oil to follow specific storage tank designs and obtain permits that allow federal agencies to enforce limits will ensure VOC emissions are less than 100 tons per year.

The complaint noted that Marathon avoided applying for certain permits by providing the EPA with information that contained multiple “inaccurate and unsupported assumptions.”

In one document Marathon stated that “the treater gas flare would achieve a 99% destruction efficiency.” The complaint noted that was not possible in “real world conditions,” and the level of destruction efficiency is not a requirement of federal regulations in the first place.

The agency estimates these compliance measures will cost Marathon Oil $177 million. The company currently operates 169 well pads in Fort Berthold and North Dakota.

Brugh would like to see emissions enforcement beyond a civil penalty. He said the fine, which will go to the U.S. Treasury, is financially a “drop in the bucket” for a company like Marathon Oil.

“Going forward, how much leverage does that have with other [oil and gas] companies? Are they just going to keep doing it?” he asked.

The tribal community is disproportionately affected by “negative effects

associated with the oil and gas industry regarding and

including unmitigated or unregulated pollution.”

— Todd Hall, Three Affiliated Tribes citizen, rancher and farmer

In June ConocoPhillips announced plans to acquire Marathon Oil by the end of 2024, creating the largest independent oil and gas producer in the U.S. Marathon Oil separated from the downstream segment Marathon Petroleum in 2011.

Brugh noted that it’s “exhausting” for community members to solely hold corporations such as Marathon Oil accountable for environmental pollution, especially those families dealing with the health effects of living near oil and gas operations.

Hall said the financial rewards of oil and gas production are acquired “at the expense of the people who live off the land.” The tribal community, he continued, is disproportionately affected by “negative effects associated with the oil and gas industry regarding and including unmitigated or unregulated pollution.”

Violations stretch back to 2015 inspections

The violations came to light via Marathon Oil’s self-reporting in four annual reports and in separate inspections conducted by the EPA and MHA Nation’s Energy Division. The inspectors captured emissions via infrared camera in 2015, 2019 and 2020.

Marathon Oil facilities have violated four Clean Air Act programs: New Source Performance Standards, National Ambient Air Quality Standards, Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Title V permitting regulations. The Fort Berthold Federal Implementation Plan for Oil and Natural Gas Well Production Facilities regulates emissions based on the Clean Air Act’s standards and requirements.

“We do not believe the terms of this settlement will have a material adverse effect on either our business or operations or the previously announced Agreement and Plan of Merger with ConocoPhillips,” a company spokesperson for Marathon Oil wrote in a statement to Buffalo’s Fire.

At time of publication, the MHA Nation Tribal Business Council and Bureau of Indian Affairs has not responded to requests to comment.

Hall noted that the BIA is “notably absent” in this and other enforcement actions taken on tribal lands.