By Kimberly Mazza
LANDER – This week brought exciting news to the Department of Environmental Quality’s Air Quality Division. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Published the OTM-52 (Other Test Method) which is called ”Method for Determination of Combustion Efficiency from Enclosed Combustion Devices Located at Oil and Gas Facilities” and developed in part by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) District 4 Engineer for the Air Quality Division (ADQ), Jared Beck.
Since 2017, Jared has been working collaboratively with EPA Region 8 and EPA Office of Research and Development, and several Wyoming industry partners, to develop a simpler and more efficient emissions test method that incorporates easy to use and accurate Portable Emissions Analyzers.
EPA’s Michael Stovern, who led the OTM development, forwarded the EPA email to DEQ’s AQD Administrator Nancy Vehr that gave the great news. It included the EPA link to the OTM-52 and read, “Today’s the day. Thank you all for your patience persistence, and assistance in putting this together and helping us through the review, right up to this morning. This is now available for state, local and tribal air agency uses…”
Jared was thrilled upon hearing the long-awaited good news. “This is what all our hard work and efforts have been about. It is a great feeling, and I appreciate all that the EPA has done to make this a reality,” he said.
Vehr congratulated her team saying, “This is a real game-changer for the industry and for Wyoming’s air quality. Thank you, Jared, and the AQD team that have worked on this for several years. You have served your state well.”
According to Jared, Enclosed Combustions Devices (ECDs) at oil and gas production facilities are designed to burn off or flare hydrocarbons, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), that are generated through the oil and gas production process.
“Current methods that test the performance of ECD’s require simultaneous inlet and outlet measurements, are time consuming to perform, and potentially require the ECD to be modified to conduct the test,” stated Jared.
Now recognized as a viable OTM by the EPA, OTM-52 uses a simpler outlet only test approach that is easy to use, accurate, and more cost effective.
“Congratulations Jared and the DEQ Air Quality team for advancing, through innovation, a culture of making compliance with environmental regulations easier, more efficient, and less costly. You deserve recognition and thanks,” stated DEQ Director Todd Parfitt. “The most promising and rewarding outcome will be continued air quality improvements not only for Wyoming, but in oil and gas producing regions throughout the nation. Thank you, Jared, and AQD Team.”
Note to the reader: A recent article in EM – The Magazine for Environmental Managers features this technology and can be read here.
Last fall, the Air Quality Division (AQD) at the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) was recognized with an Honorable Mention by the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) for their video submission entitled “Innovation and Collaboration on Air Quality” which featured the collaborative research effort to better understand enclosed combustion device (ECD) performance using modern Portable Analyzer devices.