Midland, Texas based Davis Gas Processing has been added to the list of companies the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) is fining for air quality violations. The fine for permit violations at the company’s Denton Gas Plant located in Lea County near Lovington is the outgrowth of a 2020 NMED Air Quality Bureau inspection. According to a KRQE News 13 report, “NMED says the company tested equipment with an unapproved method and failed to properly notify regulators.”
The Denton Gas Plant operated under permits issued in May 2017 and May 2020 by NMED. According to NMED records, “The 2017 permit required the company [Davis Gas Processing] to notify NMED of any engine testing to allow an inspector to be present and set conditions for such a test and how emissions were calculated,,” states an article posted at CurrentArgus.com.
Davis Gas Processing, however, did not comply with these requirements. In December 2021 when an inspector reviewed the company’s emission reports, data showed that the required notifications of engine testing had not been made. “The inspector reviewed 16 stack test reports from between January 2019 and December 2020, finding Davis conducted the tests without following state protocols for emissions calculations,” states the Current Argus article. Instead of using a fuel flow meter, a method approved by NMED, Davis used a method unapproved by the NMED – relying on “data from the manufacturer of the equipment.”
Although Davis Gas Processing closed its Lea County plant in December 2021, NMED has not backed away from seeking fines for violations the company made when operating in the Land of Enchantment. NMED first wanted Davis Gas to pay $168,000 in civil fines, but Davis responded that the “…amount was ‘disproportionately high’, as they believed that neither violation [for which the company is being fined] impacted human health or the environment,” states KRQE News. Davis Gas argued that its violations were minimal.
After negotiations NMED and Davis Gas Processing settled on a fine of $150,243 with the caveat that “if the company [Davis] doesn’t pay, the company [Davis] has to take a $1,500 penalty for each day the payment is not complete.”
“Pursuant to state law, the $150,243 penalty reverts to the State of New Mexico’s general fund. The general fund is the primary state fund from which the ongoing expenses of state government are paid,” states a July 21 NMED press release (PDF).
NMED Air Quality Bureau Chief Liz Bisbey-Kuehn said about the fine, “This penalty sends a strong message to this company and to the entire oil and gas industry that NMED takes compliance seriously. We will continue to pursue enforcement actions against companies, even after they shutter their operations in New Mexico.”
The $150,243 civil penalty to Davis Gas Processing comes on the heels of two high-profile actions taken by NMED’s Air Quality Bureau. The Bureau’s goal is to hold all “polluters accountable”. Previously, the agency fined Texas-based Ameredev II, LLC. $40 million and settled with Matador Production Company, also based in Texas, for $6.2 million.
