Per USEPA Press Release 05/29/2012

What Happened?

Mid-America Pipeline Company, LLC (MAPCO), and Enterprise Products Operating LLC (Enterprise), of Houston, Texas, have agreed to pay a civil penalty of more than $1 million to the United States to settle violations of the federal Clean Water Act related to three natural gasoline pipeline spills in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska.

MAPCO owns and Enterprise operates the 2,769-mile West Red Pipeline, which transports mixed natural gasoline products between Conway, Kan., and Pine Bend, Minn. The settlement resolves Clean Water Act violations related to three spills that occurred along the pipeline:

• A March 29, 2007, rupture near Yutan, NE which caused the discharge of approximately 1,669 barrels of natural gasoline directly into an unnamed ditch and Otoe Creek.
• An April 23, 2010, rupture near Niles, KS, which caused the discharge of approximately 1,760 barrels of natural gasoline directly into an unnamed ditch, Cole Creek, Buckeye Creek and the  Solomon River.
• An August 13, 2011, rupture near Onawa, IA, which caused the discharge of approximately 818 barrels of natural gasoline directly into the Missouri River.

“More than 20,000 miles of pipeline, carrying oil and petroleum products, cross the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska in EPA’s Region 7,” EPA Regional Administrator Karl Brooks said. “A frequent cause of pipeline breaks is the action of third parties during farming and excavation. This settlement requires the defendants to honor a schedule of pipeline inspections on the ground and from the air, and reach out to local agencies, contractors and excavators to make sure they are more fully aware of pipeline locations and depths.”

“This settlement requires proactive vigilance to ensure that our soil and waterways are protected from contaminants,” said Deborah R. Gilg, U.S. Attorney for the District of Nebraska. “The agreement will result in safer pipeline operations and that will be good for Nebraska’s environment.”

In addition to the proactive inspections and outreach efforts, the settlement also requires MAPCO and Enterprise to spend $200,000 to relocate, cover, lower or replace pipeline segments; install new remote shutoff valves; install new physical protections such as fences or concrete barriers; and install other new equipment, structures or systems to prevent spills from reaching navigable waters.

 What Can We Learn From This?

The USEPA takes spills and releases to the environment seriously and companies would do well to prevent these kinds of steep penalties and injunctive relief costs by evaluating their own procedures on how their employees should respond when an environmental spill or release occurs and evaluate steps that can be taken to proactively prevent such incidents from ever occuring.

There is only a short window of time to react to an emergency situation, so it is imperative that a company have the correct tools and resources to deal with a chemical release to the environment.

If you feel you need help in this area, there are several resources available to you. Safetec has a chemical compliance management system that can assist you with managing various risks associated with the use and storage of hazardous chemicals, including a “spill calcualtor tool” which automates reportable quantity calculations.

Additionally, Safetec has professional EHS staff that can work with your team on a one-to-one basis to help you desgin, implement and maintain an effective progr