Marathon Oil to pay $64.5 million fine for Clean Air Act violations at North Dakota operations.

Marathon Oil, one of the US’s largest independent oil and gas producers, will pay a $64.5 million fine for alleged violations of Clean Air Act permitting requirements at its operations at the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. The proposed consent decree also includes an estimated $177 million in costs to reduce emissions of smog-forming volatile organic compounds and methane. This is the largest ever fine ever for stationary sources under the clean air statute. The settlement, which follows years of investigation, does not admit any liability. The Justice Department alleges that Marathon sidestepped preconstruction permitting requirements for at least 38 facilities by submitting “artificially low” estimates for VOC and carbon monoxide emissions based on erroneous assumptions.