DCP Midstream: Difference between revisions
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The violation resulted in DCP paying a civil penalty of $3.25 million and it agreed to strengthen its leak detection and repair practices at Greeley, Kersey/Mewbourne, Platteville, Roggen, Spindle, O'Connor, and Lucerne fossil gas plants. Additionally, DCP agreed to install additional pollution measures at their Kersey/Mewbourne gas processing plant to mitigate the harm caused. | The violation resulted in DCP paying a civil penalty of $3.25 million and it agreed to strengthen its leak detection and repair practices at Greeley, Kersey/Mewbourne, Platteville, Roggen, Spindle, O'Connor, and Lucerne fossil gas plants. Additionally, DCP agreed to install additional pollution measures at their Kersey/Mewbourne gas processing plant to mitigate the harm caused. | ||
DCP operates fossil gas processing plants in nine Colorado counties along the Front Range, east of the Rocky Mountains, where air quality has fallen so far below the EPA's ground-level ozone standards. Around 3 million people across the Denver nonattainment area, are in constant danger due to the poor air quality of the area. | DCP operates fossil gas processing plants in nine Colorado counties along the Front Range, east of the Rocky Mountains, where air quality has fallen so far below the EPA's ground-level ozone standards. Around 3 million people across the Denver nonattainment area, are in constant danger due to the poor air quality of the area. <ref>https://www.courthousenews.com/dcp-midstream-fined-3-25-million-for-clean-air-act-violations-across-colorado-front-range/</ref> | ||
The main contaminants found are [[Volatile Organic Compounds]] such as Benzene, Toluene, and Methane which are linked to respiratory illnesses and heart conditions. They are irritants to the lungs, eyes and throat and Benzene is considered one of the most dangerous carcinogens | |||
The main contaminants found are [[Volatile Organic Compounds]] such as Benzene, Toluene, and Methane which are linked to respiratory illnesses and heart conditions. They are irritants to the lungs, eyes, and throat and Benzene is considered one of the most dangerous carcinogens with high or constant exposure leading to acute myeloid leukemia. | |||
===The New Mexico Environment Department=== | ===The New Mexico Environment Department=== | ||
Revision as of 22:22, 10 February 2023
DCP Midstream is headquartered in Denver, CO with Wouter T. van Kempen as CEO; DCP is a fossil gas producer that gathers, treats, compresses, processes, and transports to markets and stores. It has 11 fractionating facilities and is considered a market leader for separating NGLs from raw fossil gas, according to Enbridge report "fractionates" the liquids into its individual ethane, propane, butane, and gasoline components. [1]
Ownership and Revenue
Their main fractionation facilities are located in Colorado, Louisiana, and Texas. DCP is also a joint venture between Phillips 66 which acquired it for $3.8 billion, and Enbridge and is a Fortune 500 company. Enbridge owns 13.2% of its indirect economic interest.
Phillips 66 President and CEO Mark Lashier said:
"We are delivering on our commitment to grow our NGL business; As we continue integrating DCP Midstream, which will account for at least $300 million to even $1 billion in revenue."
According to the company's Wikipedia in 2015, it had an economic value of more than $6 billion then reaching $9.8 billion in 2018, and 628 employees providing support, denominating it the largest midstream petroleum company in the United States. The company is currently The State of Colorado's largest oil and gas employer at 1,800 employees; the company announced its plan to lay off 136 employees which raised concerns, early in January 2023 after Phillips 66 laid out its strategy to integrate DCP.[2]
Phillips 66 also plans to fund approximately $3.8 billion cash consideration through a combination of cash and debt while maintaining its current investment-grade credits. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023. [3]
Environmental violations
Just like all our favorite polluters, DCP Midstream has a total of 143 environmental violations [4] with the most recent one being a Clean Air Act violation in the state of Colorado. The violation was filed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado with a complaint that alleges DCP violated leak detection and repair requirements included in federal and state clean air laws which resulted in an excess of emissions of a volatile organic compound and other pollutants at eight fossil gas plants in Weld County, Colorado.[5]
Attorney General Todd Kim from the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division said:
“Leaks from equipment like valves, pumps, and connectors are a significant source of harmful air pollutants. Enforcement actions like this are critical to improving air quality, particularly in places facing air quality challenges like Weld County.”
The violation resulted in DCP paying a civil penalty of $3.25 million and it agreed to strengthen its leak detection and repair practices at Greeley, Kersey/Mewbourne, Platteville, Roggen, Spindle, O'Connor, and Lucerne fossil gas plants. Additionally, DCP agreed to install additional pollution measures at their Kersey/Mewbourne gas processing plant to mitigate the harm caused.
DCP operates fossil gas processing plants in nine Colorado counties along the Front Range, east of the Rocky Mountains, where air quality has fallen so far below the EPA's ground-level ozone standards. Around 3 million people across the Denver nonattainment area, are in constant danger due to the poor air quality of the area. [6]
The main contaminants found are Volatile Organic Compounds such as Benzene, Toluene, and Methane which are linked to respiratory illnesses and heart conditions. They are irritants to the lungs, eyes, and throat and Benzene is considered one of the most dangerous carcinogens with high or constant exposure leading to acute myeloid leukemia.
The New Mexico Environment Department
Another state and federal air violation were on the books for DCP when the New Mexico Environment Department issued a compliance order to DCP Midstream after it submitted 367 excess emission reports between December 2017 and June 2019 in eight New Mexico-based facilities, totaling over 2.1 million pounds of pollutants. [7]
DCP has had air violations at the following facilities: Lusk Booster Station, South Hat Mesa Booster Station, Monument Booster Station, Artesia Gas Plant, and Linam Ranch Gas Plant. [8]
The Denver-based oil and gas was repeatedly fined by the New Mexico Environment Department; including a $5.3 million one that was issued by NMED for eight Permian Basin facilities in Eddy and Lea counties with thousand of violations between December 2017 and June 2019. DCP had Sarah Sandberg as their spokesperson to state that their malfunctions and leaks were excused from civil penalties under state law. Sandberg also stated:
"The events are generally related to facility malfunctions or emergencies due to third party causes, for example, electric power interruptions, and to DCP equipment malfunctions or facility upsets that DCP Midstream reported to the NMED, which New Mexico regulations excuse such reported events from civil penalties,"
NMED Cabinet Secretary James Kenney said enforcement of air quality laws was crucial to ensuring public safety and reducing damage to the environment. Kenney stated[9]:
"Matters like these absolutely confirm the need for the Department to finish developing its methane and ozone emissions regulation for the oil and gas industry"
Texas Violations
On December 21, 2020; The Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, Environment Texas, and Texas Campaign for the Environment, filed a lawsuit against the Owners and Operators of the Goldsmith Gas Plant located in West Texas (1600 West Highway 158, Ector County);[10] after hundreds of air pollution violations over the span of five years that released thousands of tons of sulfur dioxide, threatening the health of the people in the Odessa area. [11]
Colin Cox; The Attorney for the Enviromental Integrity Project said in a report by the Enviromental Integrity Project:
"The Goldsmith Gas Plant has emitted more illegal sulfur pollution in the past few years than almost any plant in Texas. It is a top contributor to the harmful levels of pollution in the Odessa area"
State records showed that DCP's Goldsmith plant has released 6.5 million pounds of air pollution; among those are volatile organic compounds (282,000 pounds), nitrogen oxides (266,000 pounds), hydrogen sulfide (64,000 pounds), and sulfur dioxide.
Sources
- ↑ https://www.enbridge.com/-/media/Enb/Documents/Factsheets/FS_EnergyInfrastructureAssets.pdf?rev=336711a2a83e485b8302f33ec1fa1dfe&hash=1CC2046A8F73F237C37789B7CBC8A930
- ↑ https://denvergazette.com/news/business/denver-based-dcp-midstream-to-layoff-over-130-employees-in-the-spring/article_9f310e1e-a1cc-11ed-8e1e-fb0480185a7b.html
- ↑ https://www.lpgasmagazine.com/phillips-66-continues-to-integrate-dcp-midstream/
- ↑ https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/parent/dcp-midstream-partners
- ↑ https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-epa-and-state-colorado-settlement-dcp-operating-company-lp-resolves-clean
- ↑ https://www.courthousenews.com/dcp-midstream-fined-3-25-million-for-clean-air-act-violations-across-colorado-front-range/
- ↑ https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/state-agency-fines-dcp-midstream-unit-5-3m-for-environmental-violations-59359561
- ↑ https://cloud.env.nm.gov/air/pages/view.php?ref=8386&k=ff8f5f6fc2
- ↑ https://www.currentargus.com/story/news/local/2020/07/07/new-mexico-fines-oil-and-gas-dcp-midstream/5392957002/
- ↑ https://environmentalintegrity.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/NOI-Goldsmith-Gas-Plant.pdf
- ↑ https://environmentalintegrity.org/news/west-texas-gas-plant-hit-with-legal-action-for-over-hundreds-of-air-pollution-violations/