APRIL 20, 2023 - COMPLAINT FILED
On April 20, 2023. the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, the States of Alabama, Colorado, West Virginia, and Wyoming, and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality announced a settlement with The Williams Companies, Inc. and several of its subsidiaries (Williams), and Williams? successor at the Ignacio Gas Plant, Harvest Four Corners, LLC (Harvest) (collectively, Defendants). The settlement will strengthen leak detection and repair practices and significantly reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), methane, and other pollutants at 15 natural gas processing plants located in Alabama, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, Wyoming, and on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation.
The consent decree was filed on April 20, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado along with a complaint that alleges Defendants violated leak detection and repair requirements in federal, state, and tribal clean air laws, resulting in excess emissions of VOCs and other harmful pollutants to the atmosphere. As part of the settlement, Williams will pay a $3.75 million civil penalty for the alleged violations.
THIS CASE IS PART OF EPA'S EXISTING NCI. IMPROVING AIR QUALITY: ENSURING ENERGY EXTRACTION ACTIVITIES COMPLY WITH ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS. THESE FACILITIES POTENTIALLY EMIT VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS AND HAZARDOUS