NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – After years of effort, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New Mexico Environment Department have reached a settlement with a company operating across Texas and New Mexico. The regulators say 11,000 tons of pollutants will no longer enter the air each year thanks to the settlement.
Regulators alleged that the oil company, Mewbourne, failed to obtain state and federal permits for over 100 sites and that the company failed to comply with monitoring and record requirements, and failed to control air emissions. The regulators’ evidence came from field investigations and flyover surveillance from 2019, 2022, and 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
After facing the allegations in federal court, the company agreed to settle. Under the agreement, Mewbourne will have to spend millions to improve its systems to try to cut down on emissions. They’ll also have to pay a $5.5 million fine – $2.75 million of that will go to New Mexico’s general fund, according to the DOJ.
This latest enforcement action isn’t the only time regulators have taken on oil and gas producers operating in New Mexico. Recently, one Texas company with New Mexico operations was fined more than $40 million. Another company was fined more than $1 million in March.
