Pennzoil Products Co. and its Eureka Pipe Line Co. subsidiary have agreed to pay $867,000 in penalties for 106 small oil pipeline spills in West Virginia and western Pennsylvania.
The Justice Department said the proposed settlement also requires Pennzoil to reduce the number of oil pipeline spills, particularly those caused by external corrosion on buried pipe.
The government alleged the spills, many caused by corrosion, illegally polluted rivers during 1993-96. The largest was a 10,500 gal spill at Eureka's Roane County, W.Va., facility on Feb. 1, 1993.
The proposed settlement, if approved by a U.S. District Court judge in Parkersburg, W.Va., would settle the lawsuit. The settlement then will take the form of a consent decree. The suit was originally filed in March 1996.
It requires Pennzoil Products to remove 19 miles of pipelines from active service, pressure test all active lines for corrosion-related problems, conduct regular visual inspections of all active oil production facilities, and create a task force to study and repair pipeline corrosion.
Justice said the 23/8 in. pipelines move oil from wells to storage tanks in both West Virginia and western Pennsylvania.
It said most of the spills were small and were promptly cleaned.
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