New Mexico has reached a record settlement with a Texas-based company over air pollution violations at natural gas gathering sites in the Permian Basin.

The $24.5 million agreement with Ameredev announced Monday is the largest settlement the state Environment Department has ever reached for a civil oil and gas violation. It stems from the flaring of billions of cubic feet of natural gas that the company had extracted over an 18-month period but wasn’t able to transport to downstream processors.

Environment Secretary James Kenney said in an interview that the flared gas would have been enough to have supplied nearly 17,000 homes for a year.

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“It’s completely the opposite of the way it’s supposed to work,” Kenney said. “Had they not wasted New Mexico’s resources, they could have put that gas to use.”

The flaring, or burning off of the gas, resulted in more than 7.6 million pounds of excess emissions that included hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other gases that state regulators said are known to cause respiratory issues and contribute to climate change.

Ameredev in a statement issued Monday said it was pleased to have solved what is described as a “legacy issue” and that the state’s Air Quality Bureau was unaware of any ongoing compliance problems at the company’s facilities.

“This is an issue we take very seriously,” the company stated. “Over the last four years, Ameredev has not experienced any flaring-related excess emissions events thanks to our significant — and ongoing — investments in various advanced technologies and operational enhancements.”

While operators can vent or flare natural gas during emergencies or equipment failures, New Mexico in 2021 adopted rules to prohibit routine venting and flaring and set a 2026 deadline for the companies to capture 98% of their gas. The rules also require the regular tracking and reporting of emissions.

A study published in March in the journal Nature calculated that American oil and natural gas wells, pipelines and compressors were spewing more greenhouse gases than the government thought, causing $9.3 billion in yearly climate damage. The authors said it is a fixable problem, as about half of the emissions come from just 1% of oil and gas sites.

Under the settlement, Ameredev agreed to do an independent audit of its operations in New Mexico to ensure compliance with emission requirements. It must also submit monthly reports on actual emission rates and propose a plan for weekly inspections for a two-year period or install leak and repair monitoring equipment.

Kenney said it was a citizen complaint that first alerted state regulators to Ameredev’s flaring.

The Environment Department currently is investigating numerous other potential pollution violations around the basin, and Kenney said it was likely more penalties could result.

“With a 50% average compliance rate with the air quality regulations by the oil and gas industry,” he said, “we have an obligation to continue to go and ensure compliance and hold polluters accountable.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has announced his state will not be implementing changes to Title IX protections propagated by President Biden’s administration.

Abbott, in a letter sent to the White House on Monday, rebuked the Biden administration’s expansion of Title IX protections to protect “gender identity.”

“Title IX was written by Congress to support the advancement of women academically and athletically,” the letter states. “The law was based on the fundamental premise that there are only two sexes — male and female. You have rewritten Title IX to force schools to treat boys as if they were girls and to accept every student’s self-declared gender identity.”

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The letter continued, “This ham-handed effort to impose a leftist belief onto Title IX exceeds your authority as President. I am instructing the Texas Education Agency to ignore your illegal dictate.”

The Biden administration unveiled the new rules earlier this month to address concerns expressed by LGBTQ+ groups regarding gender identity protections.

“No one should face bullying or discrimination just because of who they are, who they love,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said. “Sadly, this happens all too often.”

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President Joe Biden speaks at the IBEW Construction and Maintenance Conference in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The unveiled rule changes also rolled back regulations put in place by former Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that ensured due process for those accused of misconduct.

Abbott’s letter declining to comply with the updated federal protections focused solely on the expansion to cover “gender identity,” which he claimed was an illegitimate overreach and would be challenged in court.

“Your rewrite of Title IX not only exceeds your constitutional authority, but it also tramples laws that I signed to protect the integrity of women’s sports by prohibiting men from competing against female athletes,” Abbott wrote. “Texas will fight to protect those laws and to deny your abuse of authority.”

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr speaks at a Get Out The Vote rally at the Cobb County International Airport in Kennesaw, Georgia. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Texas is not alone in opposition to the Title IX updates — state officials from Florida, Oklahoma, Georgia, and elsewhere have expressed intentions to legally challenge the federal government on implementing the protections. 

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has already filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration, accusing the White House of “gutting commonsense provisions that protect female athletes.”

State attorney generals from Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida have joined Georgia in the suit.