Two Texas companies fined $1M for water contamination

http://www.omaha.com/article/20120529/NEWS01/705309997#-1m-fine-for-water-contamination

Two Texas companies have agreed to pay more than $1 million in fines for natural gasoline spills that contaminated waters in Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas.

Mid-America Pipeline Co. and Enterprise Products Operating LLC, both based in Houston, agreed Tuesday to the $1.04 million fine to settle violations of the federal Clean Water Act, according to the Environmental Protection Agency in Kansas City.

The companies also agreed to spend at least $200,000 to help prevent breaks in the 2,769-mile-long West Red Pipeline. The pipeline transports liquid natural gasoline, used as an additive to ethanol and other fuels, from Conway, Kan., to Pine Bend, Minn. Mid-America owns the pipeline, which is managed by Enterprise Products.

The spills that led to the consent decree:

» 34,400 gallons leaked into the Missouri River on Aug. 13 near Onawa, Iowa, following a rupture caused by last summer's extended flooding.

» 70,000 gallons spilled March 29, 2007, into Otoe Creek near Yutan, Neb., after a break caused by a landowner using heavy equipment to remove beaver dams.

» 74,000 gallons spilled April 23, 2010, into tributaries of the Solomon River near Niles, Kan., after a hole was discovered in the pipeline. Although the cause of the break was not determined, evidence suggested the pipeline may have been hit by farm equipment.