Saying that negotiations to resolve allegations that Rover Pipeline LLC and PreTec Directional Drilling LLC violated two state environmental regulations are no longer productive, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency asked Ohio Atty. Gen. Mike DeWine (R) to begin civil proceedings against the pipeline developer and its contractor.
The agency is seeking a $2.3-million civil penalty, Ohio EPA Director Craig W. Butler said during a Sept. 20 teleconference with reporters.
Rover Pipeline was formed by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners in 2014 as an interstate gas transportation company to construct a 713-mile pipeline with 3.25 bcfd of capacity. The system would extend from Marcellus and Utica shale production areas across the US as well as to the Union Gas Dawn Storage Hub in Ontario, Canada, for redistribution back into the US or into the Canadian market.
Blackstone Energy Partners and Blackstone Capital Partners acquired 49.9% interest in Rover Pipeline in late July (OGJ Online, Aug. 1, 2017).
In his letter to DeWine, Butler said Rover Pipeline “committed dozens of violations of Ohio’s water pollution control and air pollution laws” since it began drilling operations this past April. The agency proposed Director’s Final Findings and Orders seeking appropriate injunctive relief and a civil penalty to the pipeline developer on May 5 in what the director said was “an attempt to address this systemic and unprecedented noncompliance.”
After not being able to reach a negotiated solution, Butler said he was left with no other option but to issue Director’s Unilateral Final Findings and Orders on July 7 to address illegal discharges to waters of the state and open burning violations. These included—but were not limited to—the illegal disposal of diesel-contaminated drilling fluids that threatened both public and private water supplies of nearby private residents and communities, he told DeWine.
“On that same day, I also referred Rover Pipeline to your office to address civil penalties resulting from the past violations. Because we hoped to be able to resolve the matter administratively, your office referred the enforcement referral to me as we tried to settle on a set of consensual Director’s Final Findings and Orders,” Butler said.
Following this referral, Rover Pipeline appealed the final findings and orders to Ohio’s Environmental Review Appeals Commission, arguing that federal law preempts the state’s authority to enforce its environmental laws, he said.
“As you are well aware, your office, in conjunction with my staff, attempted to arrive at a negotiated solution that would resolve the enforcement-related issues and the ERAC appeal. Despite progress to comply with portions of the Director’s Unilateral Findings and Orders, it has become apparent to me that these negotiations are no longer productive and [a] negotiated resolution is no longer possible,” Butler said in his letter.
OGJ’s attempts to obtain comments from Rover Pipeline and ETP on Sept. 21 were not immediately successful.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].