Environmental group seeks to suspend natural gas operation - Santa Fe New Mexican
Environmental group seeks to suspend natural gas operation | Local News | santafenewmexican.com
Gas is flared in 2019 at a Permian Basin well site in Carlsbad. An environmental advocacy group is suing the federal government over a project in nearby Lea County, saying agencies are failing to track emissions.
A conservation group has filed a lawsuit to compel the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to revamp an oil company's operating permits, which the group contends don't require the needed monitoring to ensure air pollutants are properly curbed.
WildEarth Guardians filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court, claiming the EPA violated the Clean Air Act by failing to correct flawed operating permits for two of Lucid Energy's compressor stations in southeastern New Mexico's Lea County.
The problems started when the state Environment Department approved permits that didn't require monitoring equipment to track natural gas venting and to ensure ozone pollution fell within state and federal standards, according to the lawsuit.
Related Knowledge Center: Air emissions
More than 30 years after the last major update of the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Supreme Court has upended the ability of Congress to give the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies broad scope to combat air pollution, including the emission of greenhouse gases. Meanwhile, further Biden administration efforts to limit emissions face opposition in the courts.