Oklahoma company settles with EPA over oil discharge into river

The Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday that it has reached a settlement with Cottonwood Creek, Inc., an Enid, Oklahoma, company, over oil pollution from the Bonanza Station in Big Horn County, Wyoming. Cottonwood Creek sold the station in 2012.

“This settlement underscores the importance of EPA’s oil-spill prevention requirements in safeguarding our rivers and streams,” EPA Regional Administrator Shaun McGrath said. “Cottonwood Creek was responsive in putting the necessary preventative and response measures in place, and EPA will ensure that the station’s current operators continue to comply with these critical environmental requirements.”

The EPA said Bonanza Station, an oil-gathering, pumping and storage facility, discharged approximately 162 barrels of crude oil into a Nowood River tributary in 2010 and did not properly meet regulations for its Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan and Facility Response Plan (FRP).

Under the settlement, the company will pay a civil penalty of $170,000, which will be contributed to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. The money will go toward federal responses to future oil discharges. Additionally, the company cleaned up its oil release and submitted an FRP that gained approval.