EPA releases regulations that will target air emissions

From the Farmington Daily Times - By Chuck Slothower - FARMINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released new standards to reduce air pollution coming from oil and gas sites, including the first federal air standards on hydraulically fractured wells. The rules, released late Tuesday, will be phased in by 2015. They require producers to flare their wells if they do not use "green completion" technology. After Jan. 1, 2015, all wells will be required to use the technology. The delay will ensure green completion technology is widely available by the time the rule fully takes effect, the agency said. The EPA said oil and gas production can continue to grow while reducing harmful pollution. Industry officials on Wednesday were still digesting the changes. Steve Henke, president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, said he was not prepared to comment. Western Energy Alliance spokeswoman Kathleen Sgamma said the EPA "seriously overestimated the benefits and underestimated the costs of compliance." Read more

EPA releases regulations that will target air emissions