{"id":5901,"date":"2014-08-27T13:32:09","date_gmt":"2014-08-27T13:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/?p=5901"},"modified":"2021-05-19T01:04:11","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T01:04:11","slug":"exxonmobil-pipeline-company-to-pay-civil-penalty-under-proposed-settlement-for-torbert-louisiana-oil-spill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/2014\/08\/27\/exxonmobil-pipeline-company-to-pay-civil-penalty-under-proposed-settlement-for-torbert-louisiana-oil-spill\/","title":{"rendered":"ExxonMobil Pipeline Company to Pay Civil Penalty Under Proposed Settlement for Torbert, Louisiana Oil Spill"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

Contact:<\/strong>
\nJennifer Colaizzi (News Media only)
\njennifer.colaizzi@epa.gov<\/a>
\n(202) 564-7776<\/a><\/p>\n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n

August 26, 2014<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Settlement Resolves Clean Water Act Violation Stemming from 2012 Spill<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 ExxonMobil Pipeline Company (ExxonMobil) has agreed to pay a civil penalty for an alleged violation of the Clean Water Act stemming from a 2012 crude oil spill from ExxonMobil\u2019s \u201cNorth Line\u201d pipeline near Torbert, Louisiana, the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today.\u00a0 Under the consent decree lodged today in federal court, ExxonMobil will pay $1,437,120 to resolve the government\u2019s claim.<\/p>\n

The United States\u2019 complaint, which was also filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, alleges that ExxonMobil discharged at least 2,800 barrels (or 117,000 gallons) of crude oil in violation of Section 311 of the Clean Water Act. \u00a0On April 28, 2012, ExxonMobil\u2019s 20\/22-inch-diamater pipeline ruptured near Torbert, about 20 miles west of Baton Rouge, and crude oil spilled into the surrounding area and flowed into an unnamed tributary connected to Bayou Cholpe.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll businesses have an obligation to protect their workers, the local community and the environment in which they operate,\u201d said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance at EPA. \u201cEPA is committed to protecting communities by enforcing laws that reduce pollution in local waterways.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOil spills into our nation\u2019s waters endanger public health and the environment and warrant concerted enforcement efforts,\u201d said Sam Hirsch, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department\u2019s Environment and Natural Resources Division.\u00a0 \u201cToday\u2019s settlement achieves a just result and furthers our enforcement mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

The $1.4 million penalty is in addition to the costs incurred by ExxonMobil to respond to the oil spill and to replace the segment of ruptured pipeline.\u00a0 ExxonMobil is completing cleanup actions pursuant to an administrative order issued by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.\u00a0 The company also continues to do follow-up work and to operate under a Corrective Action Order issued by the United States Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.<\/p>\n

The Clean Water Act makes it unlawful to discharge oil or hazardous substances into or upon the navigable waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines in quantities that may be harmful to the environment or public health.\u00a0 The penalty paid for this spill will be deposited in the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund managed by the National Pollution Fund Center.\u00a0 The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund is used to pay for federal response activities and to compensate for damages when there is a discharge or substantial threat of discharge of oil or hazardous substances to waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines.<\/p>\n

The proposed consent decree, lodged in the Middle District of Louisiana, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and court review and approval.\u00a0 A copy of the consent decree is available on the Department of Justice website atwww.justice.gov\/enrd\/Consent_Decrees.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n

R195<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Contact: Jennifer Colaizzi (News Media only) jennifer.colaizzi@epa.gov (202) 564-7776 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 26, 2014 Settlement Resolves Clean Water Act Violation Stemming from 2012 Spill WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014 ExxonMobil Pipeline Company (ExxonMobil) has agreed to pay a civil penalty for an alleged violation of the Clean Water Act stemming from a 2012 crude oil spill from ExxonMobil\u2019s … Continue reading ExxonMobil Pipeline Company to Pay Civil Penalty Under Proposed Settlement for Torbert, Louisiana Oil Spill<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-oil-pollution"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5901"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6093,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5901\/revisions\/6093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reefrelieffounders.com\/drilling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}