ENR (202) 514-2007WWW.USDOJ.GOV
TDD (202) 514-1888
COLONIAL PIPELINE PLEADS GUILTY TO OIL SPILL IN S.C. RIVER
Company To Pay Record Fine of $7 Million, Serve Five-Year Probation Term
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Justice Department announced today that Colonial Pipeline Company (CPC), operator of the largest-volume hazardous liquid pipeline in the world, pled guilty to criminal charges in connection with a spill of almost one million gallons of oil into the Reedy River in South Carolina. For its role in causing the sixth-largest oil spill in US history, CPC will pay a record fine of $7 million dollars and serve a five-year term of probation.
"This criminal prosecution demonstrates the willingness of the United States to use all available tools in the protection of our environment," United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina René Josey said. "This prosecution and the resulting punishment will serve to remind those who would spoil our precious natural resources that the federal government will enforce the law and pursue those responsible."
Colonial is owned by several of the world's largest oil companies. Shareholders include Mobil, Amoco, and Texaco. The plea was entered today in Federal District Court for the District of South Carolina. CPC pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of violating the Clean Water Act (CWA) when it failed to exercise reasonable care leading to the rupture of its pipeline where it crosses the Reedy River near Simpsonville, South Carolina. .
Assistant Attorney General Lois J. Schiffer of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resource Division said, "The Reedy River is a valuable natural resource that we are determined to protect it through enforcement of our nation's environmental laws. That's why today's guilty plea is so important. It shows that those who endanger the health of the river and its surrounding environment will be held accountable for their actions. The people of South Carolina deserve nothing less."
CPC acknowledged that its actions led to spill of about 960,000 gallons of diesel fuel, affecting a 23-mile segment of the Reedy River. The spill killed about 35,000 fish and also affected wildlife such as beaver, muskrat and turtles, which died as a result of direct contact with the spilled oil.
After pleading guilty, CPC was immediately sentenced by The Honorable G. Ross Anderson, Jr., Federal District Judge, and ordered to pay of a fine of $7 million. The court also imposed a five-year term of probation on the company.
Steven A. Herman, Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance at the United States Environmental Protection Agency said, "While pipelines are important to the nation's economy, it is vital that they be operated safely in order to protect both human health and the environment. The significant penalty assessed against Colonial demonstrates the government's commitment to deal firmly with those who commit criminal acts and compromise our safety."
During the five-year term of probation, CPC must develop and implement an extensive environmental compliance program to prevent and detect any further violations of the CWA on the entire 5,318-mile pipeline that runs from Houston, Texas, to Linden, New Jersey. The court also required the company to make presentations to national pipeline associations regarding the obligations such pipelines have under the CWA.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Environmental Protection Agency, and prosecuted jointly by the United States Attorneys Office and the Environment and Natural Resources Division's Environmental Crimes Section in Washington, D.C.
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