ExxonMobil Fined $2M After Injection Wells Linked To Earthquakes In New Mexico
After environmental damage in New Mexico was tied to oil and gas wastewater practices, one of the largest companies in the world is on the hook for a multimillion-dollar penalty.
“More than $2M in fines were issued against two of the Permian Basin’s biggest oil and gas producers at wastewater disposal wells in southeast New Mexico,” reported the Carlsbad Current Argus. “The operators allegedly failed to comply with reporting and operating conditions at five underground injection wells in an unpopulated area about 35 miles southeast of Malaga in southern Eddy County.”
The producers being fined are ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Permian Operating, which faces $2.2M in penalties, as well as Mewbourne Oil Company, which faces $7,200 in penalties. They operate saltwater disposal wells, which pump a “produced water” byproduct from oil and gas drilling deep underground as a means of wastewater disposal.
This practice is fairly common among oil and gas operations but has been linked to drinking water quality issues and, in this case, seismic activity.
“Such [produced water disposal] activities were recently linked to induced, or man-made, earthquakes in the region amid calls that produced water be instead recycled and reused by operators instead of being re-injected,” per the Current Argus. “New Mexico had 14 such quakes in 2021.”
New Mexico introduced reporting requirements in response, and now the state’s oil conservation division has indicated that sites operated by the companies facing penalties failed to meet them, some for as long as two years.
In response to the penalties, Exxon has indicated that it is reviewing the alleged violations and plans to work with the state agencies in response.
“We are reviewing the notices from the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division,” the spokesperson told the Current Argus. “We maintain the highest standards for safety, health and environmental care. It is our practice to comply with all applicable laws and regulations.”
To learn more about how oil and gas wastewater operations dispose of produced water, visit Water Online’s Produced Water Treatment Solutions Center.