MPLX, a midstream operator of pipelines and processing plants, agrees to $2 million in penalties and to upgrade its equipment and leak detection.

(Brian Maffly | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Ironhorse gas processing plant, pictured in August 2022, is among four natural gas facilities in the Uinta Basin the EPA alleges have been operated out of compliance with clear air laws for several years. Last week, the EPA announced a $2 million settlement with the plants’ operator MPLX, a subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum.

Federal regulators last week announced settlements with energy companies that they say have been operating natural gas compressing and processing plants and pipelines in ways that endangered air quality in several states, including Utah.

MPLX is a company active in the Uinta Basin and owns and operates midstream infrastructure that moves natural gas to market from the producing fields in the Uinta Basin.

According to a consent decree filed on April 20 in Salt Lake City’s U.S. District Court, four MPLX facilities on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation violated various regulations, potentially releasing large amounts of methane and other pollutants into the atmosphere.

The facilities are the Chapita, Coyote Wash and Wonsits Valley compressor stations and the Ironhorse processing plant, all clustered near each other south of Vernal.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and is believed to contribute to climate change. Past research has found that the basin’s vast network of gas-processing infrastructure could be emitting huge volumes of the valuable gas into the atmosphere, resulting in both economic losses and harm to the environment. One study by the University of Utah found that 6 to 8% of the basin’s natural gas production could be escaping in undetected leaks from pipelines and processing equipment.

If approved by the court, the 164-page consent decree would also resolve MPLX’s alleged violations in Wyoming and North Dakota. The company admitted no wrongdoing as part of the settlement but agreed to pay $2 million in penalties to the Environmental Protection Agency to resolve issues identified at 20 gas processing plants located in the three states.

“The EPA will continue to hold companies accountable as we deliver cleaner air for communities across our region,” said Denver-based regional administrator KC Becker.

The settlement is subject to a public comment period through at least May 20.

MPLX was formed in 2012 in a partnership with Marathon Petroleum Co. to acquire pipelines and compressor stations used to gather, process and transport natural gas. The Ohio-based firm acquired the Utah gas plants in 2019, when it merged with the previous owner, Andeavor Field Services LLC. Andeavor had been acquired the year before by Marathon.

“Through the cooperative efforts to reach this consent decree, MPLX has agreed to certain enhancements in its operations at facilities located in Utah, North Dakota and Wyoming,” the company said in an email in response to a request for comment. “These measures, many of which exceed existing regulatory requirements, are intended to enhance existing operations while simultaneously reducing emissions.”

A civil action filed by the EPA alleged MPLX and its predecessors, beginning in 2012, failed to monitor the Ironhorse plant for leaks, to repair leaks within 15 days of detection, to keep adequate records or to make semiannual reports.

Additionally, it operated a dehydrator at the Wonsits Valley plant for 55 days without an operable flare required for burning off vented hydrocarbons.

The settlement requires MPLX to spend up to $4.5 million in mitigation and equipment upgrades and to bring its operations into compliance with EPA regulations.

New controls, requirements, and mitigation projects will reduce ozone-producing air pollution by 95 tons per year and greenhouse gases by 3,850 tons per year from MPLX facilities in North Dakota, Wyoming and the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, according to the EPA.

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Uinta Basin gas company caught polluting the air, EPA alleges