United States v. XTO Energy, Inc.

The U.S. Department of Justice lodged a proposed consent decree with the federal district court for the Southern District of Ohio to resolve an enforcement action against XTO Energy, Inc. (XTO) in connection with a 2018 post-fracking gas well blowout in southeastern Ohio. The U.S. asserted that XTO violated Clean Air Act § 112(r), which imposes a general duty on facility owners and operators to take steps to prevent releases of hazardous substances and minimize consequences of accidental releases. The U.S. alleged that as a result of XTO’s failures to assess and mitigate risk, the consequences of the release of methane were greater than they should have been, including the release of 60,000 tons of methane in 20 days, which the complaint alleged was more than the entire annual emissions of the oil and gas sectors for many European countries and the equivalent of a year’s worth of emissions from 350,000 passenger vehicles. The consent decree, which was subject to 30 days of public comment, would require XTO to pay an $8 million civil penalty, certify that it will apply parent company ExxonMobil Corporation’s procedures at its wells in its Eastern Business Unit (EBU), undertake an audit of pressure monitoring equipment at existing wells in the EBU, and undertake and document investigations of any potential failures of subsurface barriers at wells in the EBU. In addition, the consent decree would require implementation of mitigation projects that would result in more than 20,000 tons of methane emissions reductions. The projects include rebuilding and implementing other upgrades to engines; installing equipment to recover compressor rod-packing vent discharges; retrofitting, replacing, or retiring at least 300 pneumatic devices powered by methane-containing gas; and plugging and restoring existing wells.