EPA reaches settlement with company storing wastewater generated by fracking

July 22, 2013

WASHINGTON — The federal settlement requires that XTO pay a penalty of $100,000 to the U.S.

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice announced a settlement with XTO Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, to resolve an alleged violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) related to the discharge of wastewater from XTO’s Penn Township, Lycoming County, Pa. facility used for the storage of wastewater generated by natural gas exploration, commonly known as fracking, and production, according to a press release.

The federal settlement requires that XTO pay a penalty of $100,000 to the U.S. and spend a federal government-estimated $20 million on a comprehensive plan to improve wastewater management practices to recycle, properly dispose of and prevent spills of wastewater generated from natural gas exploration and production activities in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Among other things, XTO must install a continuous, remote monitoring system for all of its permanent production located throughout Pennsylvania and West Virginia with alarms that will be triggered to alert operators immediately in the event of any future spills and implement a program to actively monitor interconnected wastewater storage tanks located throughout Pennsylvania and West Virginia, stated the release.

Read the entire press release here.

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