Tribal Lands Accomplishments, Fiscal Year 2004

Enforcements Accomplishments 2004 Quick Finder
Enforcement Accomplishments 2004 Home Air	Criminal investigation Land Pesticides	Supplemental Actions Tribal Water

In 2004, EPA marked 20 years of partnership with Indian Tribes. Twenty years ago, EPA became the first federal agency to adopt a formal Indian Policy of working with federally recognized tribes on a government-to-government basis. The EPA Tribal Program has made progress each year since the policy was adopted. Some of this year’s highlights include:

Mobil/Aneth settlement includes environmental projects on tribal land

Example of spilled oil from a corroded oil production facility flowline.(Photo by Peter Reich)

In a $5.5 million settlement, Mobil Exploration and Producing U.S. Inc. agreed to reduce the number of oil spills and build a drinking water pipeline to remote homes in oil fields on the Navajo Nation, near Aneth in southeastern Utah. The settlement includes a $515,000 penalty and requires the company to spend about $4.7 million on improvements to reduce spills. Mobil will also spend approximately $327,000 on environmental projects that include sanitation facilities and a drinking water pipeline extension that will provide running water to 17 of the remote homes. Currently, residents must drive up to an hour to fill 55-gallon drums with drinking water. The settlement stems from 83 known oil spills at the company’s wells along the banks of the San Juan River and its tributaries, on lands leased from the Navajo Nation.

EPA settles with energy companies for Clean Air Act violations on tribal lands

The El Paso Natural Gas Co. agreed to pay a $57,750 penalty to settle alleged Clean Air Act violations related to one of its New Mexico facilities. The company failed to test nitrogen oxide emissions from a generator, located on the Navajo nation as required. When the company performed a source test from the generator at EPA's request, the nitrogen oxide emissions from the generator exceeded the applicable permit limit. As part of the settlement, the company will replace the generator with a new generator that emits significantly less nitrogen oxides. Nitrogen oxides can travel long distances, causing a variety of health and environmental problems far from their source. Several pollutants including ozone (smog) are created by the interaction of nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and sunlight.
EPA settled Clean Air Act (CAA) violations with Colmac Energy Inc., a power plant in Mecca, Calif., on Cabazon Band of Mission Indians land. Colmac agreed to pay $30,000 and fulfill the reporting requirement in its Title V (five) operating permit. Clean Air Act Title V permits clarify, in a single document, which CAA requirements apply to a single source and how to comply.
EPA signed an agreement with the Morongo Band of Mission Indians that allows the tribe to begin operating its new cogeneration electric power plant with no remaining regulatory problems. Under the agreement, the tribe will submit its CAA Title V application, which regulates the amounts of air pollution the plant can emit.

EPA, Tribes take steps to reduce underground fuel tank leaks

Compliance with federal underground fuel storage tank requirements in Indian country is critical because small releases of petroleum products can foul huge quantities of underground water.

EPA and the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency inspected 47 underground fuel storage tank sites and issued 11 field citations with a combined total of $5950.50 in fines.
In a case stemming from violations discovered in November 1999 by EPA, Hopi and Navajo Nation inspectors, the U.S. Attorney in Phoenix filed a complaint against a gas station at Tuba City on the Navajo Nation for underground fuel storage tank violations. John B. Knight Jr. and Robert D. Brown, along with National Petroleum Marketing, Inc., Sunwest Express Inc. and Navajo Trails Inc. – owners and operators of the SuperFuels gas stations now operated by Tuba City Express – were named in the complaint.
EPA, the Navajo Nation EPA and the Hopi Tribe Department of Natural resources approved a final cleanup plan submitted by Thriftway Marketing Corp. for a leaking underground fuel tank site in Tuba City, AZ, which threatened the drinking water sources for many Hopi and Navajo communities. The cleanup plan followed an EPA order to gas station operators to take action to protect tribal groundwater supplies.

EPA orders Speedy’s Truck Stop to clean up petroleum pollution

EPA ordered Speedy’s Truck Stop to stop illegal petroleum leaks and spills at its truck stop and refining facility in Lupton, Ariz. The order also requires the company to prepare a plan to investigate and clean up contamination from releases of oil and other solid wastes at the facility and onto nearby private properties. Investigations conducted by the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality found several area of potential contamination at the facility and neighboring projects.

EPA orders oil company to comply with Clean Water Act on tribal land

EPA ordered Mountain States Petroleum Corp. to comply with the Clean Water Act requirements of its wastewater discharge permit on the Navajo Nation. The New Mexico-based company, which operates an oil field on the Navajo Nation in Utah, failed to monitor and sample wastewater from its operations and submit water quality reports to EPA. The company discharges wastewater to a tributary of Chinle Wash, which is a tributary of the San Juan River.