Texaco reached a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency by agreeing to outfit two of its oil fields in western Kern County, California with new air pollution control devices and pay $568,000 in penalties for violating the Clean Air Act. The government alleged that Texaco drilled and operated 720 crude oil production wells without getting proper permits and removed vapor recovery equipment from 5,030 crude oil wells without applying for a permit until after completing the work. Two years earlier, Texaco settled cases involving the same violations with the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District for $556,000.