Two MarkWest LLC subsidiaries agreed to pay a $610,000 civil penalty and spend another $2.6 million to install equipment to minimize volatile organic compound emissions in their western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio facilities, the US Department of Justice, US Environmental Protection Agency, and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection jointly announced.
The Apr. 24 consent decree in US District Court for Western Pennsylvania would resolve charges that MarkWest Liberty Midstream Resources LLC and Ohio Gathering Co. LLC violated federal and Pennsylvania air quality laws in their operations, leading to emissions of more than 700 tons/year of VOCs.
The subsidiaries allegedly did not obtain the necessary permits and keep adequate records. Under the proposed settlement’s terms, MarkWest is expected to install and operate technologies that minimize VOC emissions at its facilities throughout eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania in the Utica and Marcellus shale formations, the government entities said.
They said MarkWest also agreed to spend more than $2.4 million to perform three supplemental environmental projects (SEP) by installing and operating ambient air monitoring stations upwind and downwind of its compressor stations in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania; one SEP requiring the dissemination and demonstration of a proprietary MarkWest technology for reducing VOC emissions; and one community environmental project for emissions monitoring equipment under an agreement between MarkWest and Pennsylvania.
The consent decree is subject to a public comment period of at least 30 days before it can be entered by the court as a final judgment.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].
