A pipeline owned by Mid-Valley, an Ohio-based company, and operated by Texas-based Sunoco Pipeline ruptured on 26 January, 2005, releasing 262,542 gallons of oil into a 25.6-km stretch of the Kentucky River in Owen and Carroll counties. The crude eventually entered the Ohio River. “This was an unfortunate incident, and it should serve as a reminder that our environment must be protected, even as we work to meet our energy needs,” Governor Ernie Fletcher said in a statement after the consent decree was filed. Mid-Valley and Sunoco Pipeline are to pay $1.4 million in penalties to the United States, and $1.17 million to Kentucky, under the proposed agreement. In addition, the companies will reimburse Kentucky $120,000 in response costs to the Kentucky River spill. Mid-Valley and Sunoco have already reimbursed federal response costs of about $234,000.
The settlement also requires the companies to donate $230,000 to a yet-to-be-determined non-profit organization dedicated to improving the environment of Kentucky. Investigators said the Kentucky spill was the result of a break in the 22-in diameter pipe that had been in use since 1950.
Also as part of the proposed agreement, Mid-Valley and Pennsylvania-based pipeline operator Sun Pipe Line agreed to pay a fine of $300,000 for the spill of 63,000 gallons of crude oil into Campit Lake in Claiborne Parish, La., on 24 November, 2000. In addition to the penalties, the Environmental Protection Agency said Mid-Valley spent about $9.5 million to clean up the Kentucky spill and $2.2 million to clean up the Louisiana spill. The company has also reimbursed the federal government more than $26,000 for its response to the Louisiana spill.
“We feel we’ve negotiated in good faith, and our intention is to comply with the settlement and the consent decree,” said John McCann, spokesman for Sunoco Logistics, the Philadelphia company that owns Sunoco Pipeline and Sun Pipe Line, and also owns an interest in Mid-Valley.
The proposed consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and must be approved by a federal judge. “This settlement underscores the commitment of both the Environmental Protection Agency and our state partners to maintain an aggressive enforcement program that protects human health and the environment,” said EPA regional administrator Jimmy Palmer.