Texas Companies Fined For Oil Pipeline Spills
30th May 2012
Two Houston-based companies have agreed to pay a civil penalty of more than $1 million for pipeline spills in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska.
According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency statements the fine forms part of a consent decree filed in U.S. District Court in Omaha in which Mid-America Pipeline Co. and Enterprise Products agreed to reduce external threats to the pipeline and improve their reporting of spills.
The EPA says Mid-America owns and Enterprise operates the pipeline that carries gasoline products between Conway, Kansas., and Pine Bend, Minnesota. The Nebraska spill of about 71,000 gallons occurred near Yutan on March 2007, the Kansas spill of around 75,600 gallons occurred near Niles in April 2010 and the Iowa spill of nearly 34,500 gallons occurred near Onawa in August 2011.