EPA issues $170K fine for 2010 oil spill in Big Horn County

WORLAND — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Wednesday announced a settlement with Enid, Oklahoma-based Cottonwood Creek, Inc. in which the company agreed to pay a $170,000 penalty to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act related to oil pollution at the Bonanza Station in Big Horn County.

According to EPA spokesperson Rich Mylott, “The spill was reported to the National Response Center on March 8, 2010, at about 7 p.m.  It was noted as located in Big Horn County at the Bozeman Station.  EPA subsequently contacted local responders who reported the spill as contained in a ravine.  My records indicate the majority of the oil was removed within a week, with boom material placed into the ravine to prevent any remaining oil from traveling down the stream to the Nowood River.”

The settlement requires Cottonwood Creek, Inc. to pay a civil penalty of $170,000 which will be deposited into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, a fund used by federal agencies to respond to discharges of oil and hazardous substances, according to an EPA news release.

The agreement resolves alleged violations of the Clean Water Act’s requirements for oil and gas operations at the Bonanza Station, an oil gathering, pumping and storage facility, including a March 8, 2010, pipeline discharge of approximately 162 barrels of crude oil into a tributary of the Nowood River.

The agreement also resolves allegations that Cottonwood Creek, Inc. violated EPA regulations regarding the preparation and implementation of a Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan and a Facility Response Plan (FRP).

These plans are the first line of defense for preventing oil discharges and providing immediate containment measures when an oil discharge does occur. The company cleaned up the oil release and ultimately submitted an acceptable FRP, according to an EPA release.

According to the original EPA complaint filed against the company, “Although much of the discharged oil was recovered from the unnamed tributary within a week of the spill, oil recovery and remediation efforts continued until November 2010.”

Big Horn County Commissioner John Hyde, who was serving as the county’s emergency management coordinator in 2010, said he and Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn reviewed the spill at the time, which was “at the field south of the Manderson-Hyattville highway (Wyoming Highway 31).”

Myott said the size of the spill, 162 barrels (42 gallons per barrel for total of 6,804 gallons) “is a sizable volume of oil.  Preventing impacts to surface waters is a priority in those types of response situations.”

“This settlement underscores the importance of EPA’s oil spill prevention requirements in safeguarding our rivers and streams,” said Shaun McGrath, regional administrator for EPA‘s Denver office. “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.”

Cottonwood Creek, Inc. sold the Bonanza Station to the Washakie Pipeline Company in 2012.