Clean Air Act settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in which Kinder Morgan Altamont and Colorado Interstate Gas have agreed to pay a penalty and improve the maintenance of process equipment that will reduce the risk of an accidental release of hazardous chemicals at natural gas processing facilities in Altamont, Utah and Sinclair, Wyoming.
The settlement, lodged as a consent decree in the District of Utah, resulted from EPA inspections at the Kinder Morgan Altamont and Colorado Interstate Gas facilities which revealed violations of the Clean Air Act?s Risk Management Program regulations. The violations included deficiencies associated with safety information, hazard analysis, mechanical integrity, and incident investigations. Under the consent decree, the companies will also have an industry expert conduct mechanical integrity audits at four facilities, submit corrective action plans to EPA, and correct any violations detected in a timely manner.
In addition to the penalty, the consent decree requires expenditure on an environmental project that requires the companies to install a system flare, not otherwise required by permits or law, at the Rabbit Gulch gas compressor station in Duchesne County, Utah. This flare will reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere by an estimated 3.7 tons/year and methane by an estimated 9 tons/year.