Magellan Ammonia Pipeline Co. and two of its former affiliates agreed to pay a $3.65 million civil fine to resolve federal water pollution charges stemming from two 2004 ammonia spills, the US Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency jointly announced.
DOJ and EPA said the company, which is part of Magellan Midstream Partners LP of Tulsa, and the two former operating units, Enterprise Products Operating and Mid-America Pipeline Co. (Mapco), both based in Houston, agreed to the settlement in a consent decree filed in US District Court in Kansas City, Kan.
In a complaint filed jointly with the consent decree, the federal government alleged Magellan, which owned the pipeline, and operating firms Enterprise and Mapco were responsible for an anhydrous ammonia spill on Sept. 27, 2004, near Blair, Neb., which killed 1,000 fish along North Creek and a golf course pond, and a second spill on Oct. 27, 2004, near Kingman, Kan., which killed 20,000 fish along a 12.5-mile section of Smoots Creek.
One person was hospitalized and others were evacuated following the first spill, while the second pipeline rupture created a vapor cloud 40 ft high and also resulted in evacuations, the complaint said. It added the companies violated the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Liability, and Compensation Act by not immediately notifying the National Response Center about the spills.
Under the settlement's terms, DOJ and EPA said Magellan agreed to spend an additional $550,000 on improvements to prevent or minimize releases along selected segments of its pipeline system and will establish a program to minimize third-party damage to the system.
It also promised to make a series of required improvements in its employee training, leak response procedures, and protocols for detecting and responding to leaks and ruptures, the two government entities said. Magellan presently operates the ammonia pipeline, having terminated its operating agreement with Enterprise and Mapco in 2007, they noted.
They said the consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court. A copy is available online at DOJ's web site at www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.
