Pollution

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) secured $13.7 billion during fiscal year (FY) 2016 from companies to control pollution, including several in the oil and natural gas industry, the agency said Monday in its annual enforcement results release.

The Obama administration and Ohio-based refinery operator Marathon Petroleum Corp. said on Thursday they have reached an agreement under which Marathon will spend nearly $335 million to reduce gas flare air pollution at its refineries in Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan and Ohio.

Running counter to national trends, ozone pollution levels in seven counties in Wyoming have worsened this year, according to the annual “State of the Air 2016” report from the American Lung Association (ALA), which was released on Wednesday.

Running counter to national trends, ozone pollution levels in seven counties in Wyoming have worsened this year, according to the annual “State of the Air 2016” report from the American Lung Association (ALA), which was released on Wednesday.

President Obama vetoed a pair of joint resolutions the Republican-controlled Congress passed in a symbolic attempt to derail the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP).

The liability limit for natural gas and oil spill-related damages has been boosted 79% to $134 million from the previous level of $75 million, consistent with recommendations from a federal commission that investigated the Macondo well blowout, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said Thursday.

The Federal Reserve Board (FRB) said activity in the energy industry was a mixed bag and mentioned shale only once — but in a positive light — in the latest edition of the “Beige Book,” a report published eight times a year with data provided by the 12 Federal Reserve Districts.

The Boulder County, CO, planning commission on Tuesday proposed to offer exploration and production (E&P) operators an option of expedited oil and natural gas drilling permits in return for meeting stricter environmental standards. An industry association spokesman told NGI’s Shale Daily they favored existing state mechanisms over the county proposal.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration is reportedly working on a plan to allow hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in five counties along the Pennsylvania border in the Marcellus Shale, but only in localities that support the practice.