EPA v. Enterprise Meeker Gas Plant

Case summary

As part of the Air Toxics Initiative, R8 inspected the facility on 6/26/14. In reviewing some of the semiannual reports, EPA noticed some issues of concerns and sent a 114 letter on 12/22/14. Enterprise Meeker responded to the 114 letter on 02/25/15. One of the issues of concern was that it appeared that the time between some of the monitoring events was only around 1 to 2 seconds. In evaluating some of the 114 material there are only two individuals with short monitoring events. A call was held with site technical staff, management, the LDAR contractor (ISS), and outside counsel on 8/27 to discuss the 114 response and additional compliance issues identified. R8 will be sending additional clarification requests in written format via email from Sheldon Muller or as a 114 letter. Tolling agreement under discussion with Enterprise outside counsel. Sheldon has requested that the toll agreement start from August 1, 2015 and last 6 months. Sheldon Muller obtained a tolling agreement from Meeker. On 10/1/15 Sheldon Muller sent Meeker Gas Plant?s attorney additional questions regarding Meeker?s LDAR program. We received Meeker?s response to the additional question on 12/22/15. Sheldon obtained an extension to the tolling agreement. Laurie has reviewed the 114 response. There are some LDAR violations. Also, based on Meeker?s semiannual LDAR reports it appears that there has been an increase in components as several process units and that Meeker may have tripped NSPS OOOO at these process units. We sent a follow-up 114 letter to Enterprise on December 27, 2016 asking them to do the capital expenditure calculations and to also submit an updated LDAR database. The 114 was initially due within 30 days and Enterprise asked for a 60-day extension to submit the response. The response was then due around the end of March or early April. Enterprise also agreed to extend the tolling agreement through 7/31/17. We received the 114 response the week of March 27, 2017. Laurie and Joe have reviewed the response, and they and Sheldon met on 5/1 to discuss the response?s shortcomings and how to follow up with Enterprise with respect to those deficiencies. Laurie is drafting a letter to be sent by Scott (or Kim, if necessary) outlining the information that was requested in the 114 but not provided in the response. On 6/13/17 Sheldon Muller sent a follow-up email to Enterprise indicating that they had not fully answered all the questions in our follow-up 114. Some clarifying questions were asked in the email. On 7/5/17, Enterprise indicated they would respond in about 2 -3 weeks. On 7/6/17, Sheldon indicated that 2-3 weeks was okay but also requested that the tolling agreement be extended 4 months. Enterprise changed its outside counsel to Baker and Botts. We originally had a meeting scheduled with Enterprise on 8/29/17 but due to Harvey it was rescheduled to 9/7/17. Also, on 8/22/17, Enterprise responded to Sheldon?s 6/13/17 email indicating that they did not agree with how EPA was applying the definition of process unit. We met with Enterprise on 9/7/17 and discussed the alleged LDAR violations. Enterprise was surprised with some of the violations alleged and does not agree with our interpretation of process unit. We agreed to provide additional information regarding our interpretation of process unit as well as how we determined the number of components they had missed. Enterprise has not agreed to extend the existing tolling agreement; Enterprise wants a tolling agreement that defines the scope of our claims. Therefore, we are going to expeditiously refer this case to DOJ. A draft referral was prepared by Laurie Ostrand and Joe Wilwerding and sent to Sheldon Muller on 10/31/17. Referral sent to DOJ on 12/7/17.

Defendants (1)

• Enterprise Meeker Gas PlantNamed in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (2)

• ENTERPRISE GAS PROC - MEEKER GAS PLANT

  SEC 18 & 19 T1S R97W, MEEKER 21.1 MI. W OF, CO, 81650

  Registry ID: 110071722495

• ENTERPRISE GAS PROC - MEEKER GAS PLANT

  SEC 18 & 19 T1S R97W, MEEKER 21.1 MI. W OF, CO, 81650

  Registry ID: 110071722495

Statutes cited

• CAA 111 — New Source Performance Standards

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• Enterprise Meeker Gas Plantentered 2024-08-22

  Primary law: CAA

  Federal penalty: $500,000 · State/local: $500,000

Timeline (5 milestones)

• 2017-12-07Referred To Dept Of Justice
• 2018-03-08Enforcement Action Data Entered
• 2024-07-08Complaint Filed With Court
• 2024-08-22Final Order Entered
• 2024-08-22Final Order Lodged