Nearly everyone in the environmental community expects more enforcement and more aggressive environmental enforcement under the Biden Administration. In several of our blogs, we discussed the framework of Biden’s environmental protection goals, including a focus on Environmental Justice (EJ).
However, there has already been some conflict using this approach as the tension between job creation and EJ goals face reality (see Gas projects reveal FERC’s environmental justice conundrum).
The focus on EJ aside, there is still no shortage of “typical” environmental enforcement. Below are a couple of federal environmental enforcement actions from August.
Pipeline Company to Pay $35 Million in Criminal Fines and Civil Penalties
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ) the Department filed criminal charges under the Clean Water Act against Summit Midstream Partners LLC (Summit), a North Dakota pipeline company. Summit discharged 29 million gallons of produced water from its pipeline near Williston, North Dakota, over the course of nearly five months in 2014-2015.
Largest Inland Spill in History
The DOJ states that the discharge is from produced water, which is a waste product of hydraulic fracturing. The five month long discharge impacted land, groundwater, and over 30 miles of tributaries of the Missouri River.
The spill, believed to be the largest inland spill in history, was visible in photographs taken by satellites orbiting the earth.
The DOJ states, “Summit has further admitted that it knowingly did not share all relevant information regarding the volume and duration of the spill and that its reports to federal and state authorities ‘were incomplete and misleading,’ in papers filed in court. Summit eventually reported 70,000 barrels over a 10-day period despite an internal analysis showing the discharge was more than 700,000 barrels over 143 days. Under the terms of the proposed plea agreement, Summit will serve three years of probation in which comprehensive remedial measures are required.”
Aerial view of river impacted by by ongoing spill or processed water (Image Credit: US Department of Justice).
EPA settles with Shell to recover $29.5 Million for cleanup work
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a $29.5 million cost recovery settlement with Shell Oil Company for the ongoing cleanup of waste and contaminated groundwater at the McColl Superfund Site in Fullerton, California.
The site is a 1940s era landfill used to dispose petroleum refinery waste using a series of unlined pits. Residential homes were later built adjacent to the landfill and residents began to complain of odors and health issues in 1978. The site was later added to the National Priorities List in 1983.
Shell to Pay a Percent of Future Costs
According to the August 10, 2021 Press Release by the EPA, “Shell was found liable by a federal court for the cleanup and disposal of contaminated waste at the McColl Superfund Site. The principal contaminants of concern are benzene, metals, and a volatile chemical known as tetrahydrothiophene. As one of the responsible parties for the contamination, Shell has agreed to pay $29.5 million to resolve its share of costs that the federal government incurred through the cleanup process to date. Shell will also pay 58 percent of EPA’s future cleanup costs.”
Environmental enforcement objectives change with each administration. Expect continued enforcement activity in the coming years, especially as this administration integrates EJ into permitting and enforcement.
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