The company with the largest holdings of natural gas reserves in the United States settled with the federal government Monday for violating pollution laws by discharging waste from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, into streams and wetlands.
XTO Energy Inc., a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, will spend $3 million to repair eight West Virginia sites it damaged with fill materials used during fracking, the Environmental Protection Agency and Justice Department announced. The company also will pay a $2.3 million civil penalty for violating the Clean Water Act, half of which will go to West Virginia.
Fracking is a drilling method that injects a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals to access hydrocarbons buried deep under tight-rock formations. The practice is credited with driving an American energy boom that has made the U.S. the world’s biggest natural gas producer and second-largest oil producer, trailing Saudi Arabia.
But fracking is controversial. The industry says it’s safe, but the technique has raised fears of pollution and groundwater contamination. XTO must institute a plan to ensure its fracking operations comply with federal rules as a result of the settlement.
“American communities expect EPA and our state partners to make sure energy development is done responsibly,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “This case will help to protect clean water in West Virginia, and support a level playing field for energy developers that play by the rules.”
