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VERNAL -- Gasco Energy, Inc., the former operator of the Riverbend Compressor Station on the Uintah-Ouray Indian Reservation near Vernal, has agreed to pay a $350,000 penalty and install air emission controls for Clean Air Act violations.
The EPA estimates that measures taken as a result of this agreement will reduce air pollution by more than 550 tons per year.
"Under this agreement, Gasco and its successors will make significant investments to reduce emissions from facilities throughout the Uintah Basin," said Jim Martin, the Environmental Protection Agency's regional administrator in Denver. "EPA will continue to work with partners, including oil and gas operators, to protect air quality resources for the benefit of those who live in the basin."
According to a complaint filed with the settlement, Gasco violated several provisions of the Clean Air Act at the Riverbend facility, including emission standards for hazardous air pollutants as well as federal permitting, emissions monitoring and reporting requirements. The company disclosed the violations voluntarily.
The EPA estimates that measures taken as a result of this agreement, when fully implemented, will reduce air pollution by more than 550 tons per year. The reductions are comparable to taking more than 6,600 cars off the road each year, according to the EPA. The natural gas conserved is enough to heat more than 1,000 homes annually.
Denver-based Gasco Energy, Inc. is a natural gas and oil exploitation and development company focused on natural gas-rich prospects in the Rocky Mountain area, specifically in Utah's Uintah Basin.
E-mail: vvo-duc@ksl.com.
