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EPA AND DOJ SETTLE TEXACO ENVIRONMENTAL CASE FOR $295,000 IN UTAH

Release Date: 1/2/2002
Contact Information: Mike Ardito, U.S. EPA, (415) 972-3081, ardito.michael@epa.gov

     Enforcement Action Provides $243,725 Cash Penalty and $51,275 Project
                               
     SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this week it has reached a $295,000 settlement with Texaco Exploration and Production, Inc. for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act and the federal community right-to-know law at its gas plant and oil field in Aneth, Utah, on the Navajo Nation.

     In this enforcement action with the U.S. Department of Justice, Texaco has agreed to pay a $243,725 penalty and perform an environmental project of $51,275 to provide emergency response equipment and preparedness training to the Navajo Nation's Montezuma Creek Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department.  In addition, Texaco has agreed to ensure that its gas plant complies with the leak detection and repair requirements of the Clean Air Act.

       "Facilities have an obligation to the community for operating safely and being in compliance with environmental laws," said Jack Broadbent, the EPA's Pacific Southwest air division director.  "We are pleased that Texaco has agreed to amicably resolve this enforcement action," he said.

     The judicial complaint, filed Dec. 28 in the Central Division of the U.S. District Court for Utah, alleges that Texaco failed under the Clean Air Act to monitor and file reports on equipment leaks, and failed to properly equip and test its gas plant flare.  

     Texaco allegedly failed, under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, to report releases of sulfur dioxide to the Tribal Emergency Response Commission in December 1997 and January 1998.  The complaint also alleges that both Texaco and its contractor, Envirotech Inc., failed to properly remove and dispose of material containing asbestos.  Envirotech is required to pay $10,000 for its involvement in these alleged asbestos violations.

     In addition to this case, the EPA is currently pursuing enforcement actions in the Aneth area of the Navajo Nation against both Exxon Mobil and Texaco for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act, and against Exxon Mobil for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act.