Marathon Oil reaches $241 million settlement with EPA for environmental violations in North Dakota
The federal government announced a $241.5 million settlement with Marathon Oil on Thursday for alleged air quality violations at the company’s oil and gas operations on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota
The federal government announced a $241.5 million settlement with Marathon Oil on Thursday for alleged air quality violations at the company's oil and gas operations on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota.
The Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice said the settlement requires Marathon to reduce climate- and health-harming emissions from those facilities and will result in over 2.3 millions tons worth of pollution reduction.
“This historic settlement — the largest ever civil penalty for violations of the Clean Air Act at stationary sources — will ensure cleaner air for the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation and other communities in North Dakota, while holding Marathon accountable for its illegal pollution,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Marathon officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Houston-based Marathon operates 169 well pads in North Dakota, where the company extracts oil and natural gas. A proposed consent decree for implementing the settlement says the company does not admit any liability over the allegations, but that the two sides agree it will avoid litigation and serve the public interest.
A spokesperson for the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation based at the Fort Berthold Reservation did not immediately respond to a request for comment either.
While Marathon is the country's 22nd-largest oil producer based on 2022 data, the federal agencies said, it's also the seventh-largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions in the oil
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