After 6 months of inspections, regulators suspect violations at 60% of oil and gas facilities in New Mexico’s Permian Basin

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – As oil and gas production has boomed in the Land of Enchantment, regulators have been working to boost enforcement of state and federal rules. Now, the New Mexico Environment Department said there are potential air quality violations at more than half of the facilities inspected.

The state’s environment department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) spent six months inspecting 124 facilities in the Permian Basin, the southeastern portion of the state. They said 75 of those facilities had volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions not in compliance with state and federal law.

The inspections included satellite data, document reviews, and on-site inspections, the environment department said. Inspections included facilities operated by Chevron U.S.A. Inc., Earthstone Energy, Inc., Franklin Mountain Energy, Inc., Kaiser Francis Oil Company, Marathon, Permian Resources, Tap Rock, and XTO Energy, Inc., the environment department said.

Following the inspections, the Environment Department said they would refer potential criminal violations to New Mexico’s Environmental Crimes Task Force. And regulatory issues will be handled by the U.S. Department of Justice and the EPA because the state’s environment department is understaffed.

“Currently, six people are now managing over 114 active enforcement matters which take thousands of hours, so I welcome the resources provided to us by the EPA and DOJ to hold these polluters accountable,” Compliance and Enforcement Section Chief Cindy Hollenberg said in a press release. “As of today, 15% of New Mexico’s Permian Basin oil and gas production is under a federal settlement.”

New Mexico has taken on several companies for alleged violations, resulting in several multi-million-dollar settlements. Still, the department is hoping to raise permitting fees to cover the cost of inspections and enforcement.

“NMED has not raised its air quality permit fees in two decades, yet our permitting workload has increased a staggering 2,234 percent,” Director of the Environmental Protection Division Michelle Miano said in a press release. “ Our proposal to increase fees paid by the industry is our best chance to help the one in seven New Mexicans who suffer from respiratory ailments to breathe clean air.”

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