PennEnergy Resources LLC Clean Air Act Stationary Source Settlement

On December 10, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Justice, and the commonwealth of Pennsylvania announced a settlement with PennEnergy Resources LLC (PennEnergy) for failure to comply with federal and state air regulations to capture and control air emissions from five of the company’s oil and gas production facilities in Butler County, PA. The violations were identified through a field investigation conducted in 2018. 

Under the settlement PennEnergy will pay a $2 million civil penalty and implement projects to ensure 49 of its oil and gas well pads in western Pennsylvania comply with federal and state clean air regulations and offset past illegal emissions. The projects are expected to cost approximately $3.6 million. The settlement will result in significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases from human activities are a primary cause of climate change and global warming.

• Overview of PennEnergy Resources LLC
• Summary of Violations
• Summary of Environmental Impacts
• Environmental Benefits
• Overview of Consent Decree
• Comment Period

Overview of PennEnergy Resources LLC

PennEnergy Resources LLC is a privately-owned oil and gas company headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA. Its business is focused on the acquisition and development of unconventional shale resources in the Appalachian Basin, and its natural gas extraction and production operations consist of approximately 370 wells at 107 oil and gas facilities located in western Pennsylvania.

Summary of Violations

Based on EPA’s 2018 investigation, PennEnergy is alleged to have violated Clean Air Act regulations at five of its oil and gas production facilities. Specifically, PennEnergy violated Pennsylvania’s state implementation plan (SIP) at the facilities by failing to obtain operating permits from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection prior to the construction or modification of four of its well pads.

Summary of Environmental Impacts

Environmental Benefits

The settlement agreement is expected to result in the reduction of approximately 153 tons per year of VOC emissions and methane emissions equivalent to more than 8,250 tons per year of carbon dioxide at oil and gas production facilities. In addition, as a co-benefit of these reductions, the consent decree will result in significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.  

This enforcement settlement furthers EPA’s commitment to deliver public health protections against climate-impacting pollution and other pollutants for communities across America.  

Overview of Consent Decree

Under the proposed consent decree, PennEnergy agreed to spend at least $2.4 million to implement compliance assurance measures at 17 western Pennsylvania facilities, including:

• Field surveys, in which the company is required to identify and address any compromised equipment with a potential for excess VOC emissions;  
• Design analysis of the vapor control systems, followed by a requirement to implement any necessary modifications to ensure the systems are properly designed or sized; 
• Ongoing and robust directed inspection and preventative maintenance program at subject facilities to ensure that problems are identified and resolved promptly; 
• Extensive monitoring program for subject vapor control systems that includes tank pressure monitoring, vapor recovery unit inlet monitoring, and flare pilot monitoring; and, 
• Third-party verification program examining the company’s compliance with all aspects of the Consent Decree’s injunctive relief requirements. 

As part of this program, should a subject storage vessel pressure monitor record a measurement that exceeds a defined Trigger Point, PennEnergy will be required to “shut-in” all production operations associated with that storage vessel system until such time as all pressure relief devices are properly seated and sealed and the pressure measurement falls below that trigger point. 

PennEnergy also agreed to pay a $2 million civil penalty, to be split between the United States and the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

PennEnergy will also spend approximately $1.2 million to undertake a project to mitigate harm attributable to its alleged violations. Specifically, by January 1, 2025, PennEnergy will be required to replace no fewer than 217 existing intermittent-bleed natural gas-driven pneumatic controllers in Butler and Lawrence Counties in Pennsylvania with non-emitting pneumatic controllers as mitigation by January 1, 2025. 

Comment Period

The proposed settlement is lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and will be subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval.  Information on submitting comments is available at the Department of Justice website.

Contact Information

For additional information on this settlement, please contact: 

Christopher Williams, Chemical Engineer 
(202) 564-7889 
[email protected] 

Daniel Hoyt, Environmental Engineer 
(202) 564-7898 
[email protected] 

Alex Chen, Attorney 
(202) 565-0082 
[email protected] 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
Air Enforcement Division 
Office of Civil Enforcement 
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 
Washington DC  20460