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By NOELLE PHILLIPS | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | The Denver Post

PUBLISHED: April 21, 2023 at 12:51 p.m. | UPDATED: April 21, 2023 at 5:25 p.m.

Two natural gas processors doing business in Colorado agreed this week to multi-million dollar settlements with the federal government over continuous violations of the Clean Air Act that contributed to the state’s ongoing ozone pollution problem.

The companies also agreed to make repairs to leaky equipment at their facilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ozone pollution, which cause breathing problems.

One operator, which does business under the name WES DJ Gathering LLC, agreed to pay $3.25 million in connection with faulty equipment at three contiguous gas processing plants known as the Fort Lupton Complex, which is about 35 miles north of Denver.

The company, which is a subsidiary of Western Midstream Partners, also agreed to replace aging equipment and to take some outdated technology out of commission, according to a news release from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 8 office.

That settlement will be split evenly between Colorado and the U.S. government.

A second settlement involves The Williams Company and Harvest Four Corners, which operate facilities on the Western Slope and on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation.

The Williams Company will pay $3.75 million and will cover violations at natural gas processing plants near Parachute, Rifle and Ignacio as well in Wyoming. That money will be divided with $2.23 million going to the U.S. government, $307,500 to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, $298,875 to Colorado and $142,500 to Wyoming, according to the EPA’s news release.

The settlement requires Williams to strengthen its leak detection and make repairs to 15 natural gas processing plants, and perform leak monitoring and make repairs at 80 natural gas compressor stations across the United States, the news release said.

Harvest Four Corners agreed to install a flare monitoring project at the Ignacio Gas Plant on the Southern Ute Reservation to evaluate its equipment and install new equipment if necessary, the EPA stated.

The Colorado settlements were announced Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency as part of a deal with three natural gas processors with operations in Colorado, Wyoming, Alabama, Louisiana, North Dakota, West Virginia and Utah. The penalties combined totaled $9.25 million. Combined repairs will exceed $16 million, the EPA said.

The EPA said the settlement will reduce air pollution in each of the communities where the natural gas companies operated.

The Fort Lupton Complex is based in the northern Front Range,  where air quality is listed by the EPA as in “severe non-attainment” because it fails to meet National Ambient Air Quality standards. The American Lung Association this week placed metro Denver and Fort Collins on its list of the 20 most polluted cities in the United States

The EPA estimated that ozone-producing air pollution would be reduced by 162 tons per year and greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, would be reduced by 17,433 tons per year, the news release said.

The settlement impacting the Southern Ute Reservation and other parts of Colorado and Wyoming should reduce ozone pollution by 419 tons per year and greenhouse gases by 3,675 tons per year, according to the news release.

The settlement is the result of a complaint filed in 2020 by the federal government that accused the three natural gas companies of Clean Air Act violations by leaking volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, benzene, formaldehyde and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Efforts to reach company officials about the settlements were unsuccessful.