Oil and gas responsible for 75 percent of Colorado's air pollution violations....

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Oil and gas responsible for 75 percent of Colorado's air pollution violations in first quarter 2013

Jul. 5, 2013

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An oil pump in the Hearthfire subdivision north of Fort Collins pumps in a small park last month. This pump recently had a oil spill spill. / V. Richard Haro/Coloradoan library

Nearly 75 percent of Colorado air pollution enforcement cases during the first quarter of 2013 were oil and gas-related.

Of the 98 air pollution enforcement cases the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division, or APCD, handled in January, February and March, 73 involved oil and natural gas production, exploration or transmission companies, a Coloradoan analysis of the quarterly air quality enforcement summary report shows.

Most of the state’s enforcement actions against oil and gas companies involved emissions and reporting violations.

Of the 12 penalties the state assessed against air quality regulations violators, nine were levied against oil and gas companies.

One of those penalties was assessed against Great Western Oil and Gas for air quality violations at an oil well tank battery in Severance. The penalty totaled $22,400 for a violation of the Air Pollution Control Division’s Regulation 7, which regulates emissions of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides.

The APCD responded to a complaint from a nearby resident last October and launched an investigation into possible emissions violations at the tank battery behind several Severance homes.

Great Western, which did not return calls Friday seeking comment, was penalized because of its “failure to minimize emissions,” APCD spokesman Christopher Dann said.

The settlement Great Western reached with the state said the company failed to install adequate air pollution control equipment on the tank battery.

Of APCD’s enforcement actions for the quarter, 36 involved Regulation 7 violations.

That regulation is currently being considered for revision, part of the state’s efforts to strengthen air quality regulations pertaining to oil and gas development. The revision is scheduled for a public hearing before the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission in August.

Enforcement actions unrelated to oil and gas in the first quarter of the year include emissions violations by the Lamar Utilities Board, the city of Glenwood Springs, and the Oxbow coal mine in western Colorado; permit violations at Public Service Co.’s Yosemite Station; and, among other enforcement actions, a stack test violation at the MillerCoors brewery in Golden.

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20130705/NEWS01/307050031?nclick_check=1