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Environment, Health and Safety
El Paso is committed to conducting business in a manner that protects the environment and the health and safety of our employees, customers, contractors and the public. Our pipeline system traverses rolling hills in New England, deserts in the Southwest, marshland in the Deep South, the Rocky Mountains and open plains in Texas to deliver natural gas from remote production sites to growing population centers.
As an industry leader, we recognize our responsibility to be active, constructive participants in discussions about standards for promoting health and safety and protecting the environment.
We are committed to speaking clearly about where we stand on these issues.
Leadership Commitment to Environment, Health, and Safety
Our core values of stewardship, integrity, safety, accountability, and excellence provide the framework for our reporting, policies and procedures on issues related to the environment, health, and safety.
Members of El Paso’s Board of Directors who serve on the Health, Safety & Environmental committee review and provide oversight with respect to the company’s policies, standards, accountabilities and programs concerning health, safety and environmental-related matters. This committee also reviews and provides oversight with respect to the Company’s sustainability program and other reports related to our health, safety and environmental performance.
- Health, Safety & Environmental Committee members:
- Committee charter
- Our far-reaching Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) program is fundamental to our operations and a cornerstone of how we do business. EH&S organizations within the business units report directly to the business unit head to provide the leadership and direction for integrating best practices to protect employee health and ensure environmental safety. While they work side-by-side with productions and operations staff, their reporting structures ensures that EH&S officers in the field are focused on implementing EH&S policies and procedures.
To stress the importance of environmental awareness and safety on the job, in our pay-for-performance culture, annual bonuses are not rewarded if we don’t meet our safety targets.
The commitment is shared by employees throughout the company who are also encouraged to share new ways of improving efficiencies and promoting safety and environmental stewardship in the workplace.
Key Tenets
Being the place to work, the neighbor to have and the company to own is more than a slogan. Pushing to accomplish these goals carries the responsibility of doing what is right – all the time. The following are our commitments to help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions:
- Assess – One of our first responsibilities is to gather accurate information on our company’s impact on the environment, through inventorying and then managing emissions to reduce their impact on the environment. We have made significant progress in this area related to pollutants like NOx, CO, VOCs and air toxics. With respect to Greenhouse Gases, we have already undertaken the initial effort to develop our carbon footprint. El Paso will develop annual greenhouse gas emissions inventories and work with a third party to verify and certify the results. The results from the effort will lay the foundation for future initiatives.
- Engage – El Paso possesses a unique depth and breadth of knowledge and experience in the energy business that enables us to be part of the solution. We will work to make sure technically sound, market-based policies are adopted and actions are taken to address air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. We have and will continue to participate in local and national policy discussions to assist with the development of effective solutions to this complex issue.
- Act – As an industry leader in the oil and gas exploration and production and interstate natural gas transmission business, we recognize our responsibility to take constructive actions. Employing management and operation practices to reduce emissions and loss of natural gas are vital. Verified reductions in emissions provide positive contributions and should be facilitated by incentives and credits against current or future obligations.
- Research – We believe that policies and decisions should be based on sound science. We believe that continued research and development, supported by the U.S. government and industry, is crucial to the development of cost effective technologies. Having said this, we will not use the lack of complete science as an excuse for inaction. We will use our influence to carry out new research and development in our industry and apply appropriate processes and technologies that conform with our commitment to improving air quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
- Support Effective Regulation – We support the adoption of policies that are designed to result in tangible improvements in air quality and greenhouse gas emissions in the most efficient manner available using the appropriate technologies which provide the best possible outcome per dollar invested.
- Support National Regulation – We support a national regulatory framework to address air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. Regulatory uncertainty caused by multiple and disparate regional and state programs will result in less than optimal outcomes in all cases. A national framework is recommended and could include a national registry to report greenhouse gas emissions, as an example. A national registry will enable a review of current baseline levels to help identify realistic reduction strategies and goals.
- Support Market-Based Solutions – We believe that any clean air strategy must incorporate a market-based program with linkages to functioning and transparent trading markets. Such mechanisms can offer the most cost effective emission reduction strategies while balancing economic growth and providing additional incentives to use the best available technologies.
- Promote Natural Gas – We believe that the increased use of natural gas should be an important component of any clean air or greenhouse gas emissions strategy. Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel available and should play a key role in all clean air or greenhouse gas strategies. Therefore, we support infrastructure development in the areas of natural gas transmission, storage, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and coal bed methane production. We also support distributed generation through gas fired micro-turbines or efficient internal combustion engines and other appropriate technologies.
Environmental Reports
El Paso participates in numerous voluntary programs to monitor and report greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to reporting our GHG inventory, El Paso works with many organizations to share best practices for emissions reductions with the industry.
In The News
- Cleaning Houston Air and Houston School Buses, KUFH-FM, December 10, 2007
- Abbott, Turkey Run mine cleanup project completed, Lake County News (California), September 7, 2007
- Good business transcends time, special interests, Tucson Citizen, March 9, 2006
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