Earth Protect Blog

By Ken Amundson

BizWest

WELD COUNTY » The federal government and Noble Energy Inc. have agreed to a settlement in connection with the lawsuit filed Tuesday that will result in a $1 million fine and promises to remedy shortcomings in the oil company’s operation of oil tank batteries in floodplains in Weld County along with improved spill response performance.

The settlement, filed in conjunction with the lawsuit in federal court in Denver, will take effect in about 30 days if the court agrees. A “notice of lodging of consent decree” asks the court to delay signing the decree so that the agreement can be published in the Federal Register for 30 days. During that period, the public is permitted to comment on the decree. If the federal government finds no additional considerations, it will ask the court to sign off on the decree to settle the case.

The lawsuit alleged deficiencies that resulted in a spill into the Cache la Poudre River in 2014 plus inadequate response procedures, supplies and training at the Wells Ranch Central Gathering Facility near Gill could have resulted in billions of dollars of fines for violating the federal Clean Water Act.

But long before the lawsuit and consent decree were filed, the company was negotiating with the federal government to reach a settlement.

The Environmental Protection Agency said those negotiations have resulted in several actions, including closure of the facility that spilled into the Poudre during a flood in 2014, promises to take steps to prevent future spills at Noble facilities in the region, and demonstrations of the company’s ability to respond to potential future spills that would violate the Clean Water Act.

The “EPA will continue to make sure facilities such as the State M36 and Wells Ranch facilities comply with the federal requirements that safeguard our communities and our rivers and streams,” Suzanne Bohan, director of EPA Region 8’s Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division, said in a news release about the settlement. “This agreement will help prevent future oil discharges to Colorado’s waters by requiring Noble to invest in improved spill containment and response measures at all tank battery sites operating in floodplains.” A list of 135 tank batteries in floodplains was attached to the consent decree.

Among the settlement agreements:

• Noble will install steel oil-spill containment berms, remote monitoring sensors and tank anchoring at all of its active tank batteries in Colorado floodplains.

• The company will file periodic reports on response training, drills and exercises at the Wells Ranch facility.

• Noble will pay the $1 million fine within 30 days of acceptance of the consent decree.

The money 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.