XTO Energy Inc., a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, will pay penalties of $2.3 million for violations of the federal Clean Water Act at its shale gas drilling sites in West Virginia and spend another $3 million to restore eight sites damaged by the unauthorized discharges of fill material in to streams and wetlands.

The settlement, announced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice Monday, also resolves alleged violations of state environmental law, and West Virginia will receive half of the penalty amount.

According to federal and state environmental agencies, XTO discharged sand, dirt, rocks and other fill material into streams and wetlands without a federal permit while constructing well pads, road crossings, freshwater pits, and other gas extraction-related facilities in the West Virginia counties of Harrison, Marion and Upshur.

The violations by XTO, which, according to the Department of Justice is the nation’s largest holder of natural gas reserves, impacted more than a mile of streams and 3.38 acres of wetlands.

According to the federal news release detailing terms of the settlement agreement, XTO will fully restore the wetlands and streams wherever feasible, monitor the restored sites to assure the success of the restoration, and implement a comprehensive compliance program to ensure future compliance with federal and state law.

“The extraction of domestic energy resources is vitally important, and so it is equally important that companies ensure that all activities are done in accordance with the nation’s environmental laws,” said Sam Hirsch, the acting assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This settlement will resolve allegations that XTO damaged wetlands and streams by illegally discharging dredge and fill materials into streams, and restore wherever possible these damaged natural resources.”

In July 2013, XTO agreed to a separate settlement to resolve an alleged Clean Water Act violation related to wastewater discharged from facility used for the storage of hydraulic fracturing wastewater at a shale gas drilling site in Penn Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.

http://powersource.post-gazette.com/...s/201412220207


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk