Adrian Hedden
Carlsbad Current-Argus
achedden@currentargus.com

A $172 million settlement was reached by the operators of the Navajo Refinery in Artesia, the federal government and New Mexico state officials to resolve multiple air pollution violations the agencies reported at the facility.

Air pollution emitted by the refinery led to a $35 million civil penalty to be paid in equal shares to the U.S. and the state of New Mexico by refinery owner HF Sinclair Navajo.

The company was also tasked with taking steps valued at an estimated cost of $137 million to comply with federal and state air quality rules.

HF Sinclair did not respond to requests for comment by the Carlsbad Current-Argus.

The emissions were discovered during a 2019 joint investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency and New Mexico Environment Department and reported to the U.S. Department of Justice as violations of the Clean Air Act, according to a Dec. 17 justice department news release.

The settlement agreement was submitted to U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico for approval following a 30-day comment period the justice department had yet to schedule as of Tuesday.

The agencies estimated that if implemented, the actions in the settlement would curb 180 tons per year of air pollutants such as benzene, along with 2,716 tons per year of volatile organic compounds, which form ground-level ozone – or smog – when combined with sunlight.

Another 51 tons per year of nitrous oxide and 31 tons per year of sulfur dioxide would be cut from the refinery’s emissions under the settlement, read the news release.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimated the reductions to be the equivalent of 97,551 tons per year of carbon dioxide emissions.

HF Sinclair was also required to install and maintain 10 real-time air pollution monitors along the refinery’s fence line, and six others to be placed around Artesia to measure emissions from the facility and make the results available online to the public. The total cost of the monitors was $1.8 million.

“Today’s action not only obtains civil penalties — it forces the Artesia Refinery to invest in a number of projects to benefit our state, including improving controls for cancer-causing benzene emissions and other pollutants that infringe on New Mexicans’ right to breathe clean air,” said James Kenney, New Mexico Environment Department cabinet secretary.

Other violations of state regulations governing refinery equipment and operations were found at the site, including flaring – the burning of excess natural gas – wastewater, storage vessels, leak detection and repair.

The company will also install a flare gas recovery system, upgrade its wastewater system to reduce benzene in wastewater, install geodesic domes to serve as storage vessels to capture emissions and increase monitoring for leaks and their repairs.

“The fence line community in Artesia has lived with the burden of benzene and VOC emissions for many years,” said Earthea Nance, regional administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency. “This settlement is an overdue step in bringing them some relief from the potential health effects of these pollutants.”