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Dakota Access firm fined $431K for two spills of drilling fluids in Ohio

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

A "Water Is Life" banner hangs at Oceti Sakowin, the former #NoDAPL encampment in North Dakota. Photo: Joe Brusky

The firm behind the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline has been hit with $431,000 in fines in Ohio.

The fines are just a small fraction of the cost of the $4.2 billion Rover natural gas pipeline. That might explain why Energy Transfer Partners is giving the state the cold shoulder, in the eyes of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

“All told, our frustration is really high. We don’t think they’re taking Ohio seriously,” Craig Butler, the director of the agency, told The Columbus Dispatch. “Normally when we have … a series of events like this, companies respond with a whole lot of contrition and whole lot of commitment. We haven’t seen that. It’s pretty shocking.”

Construction on Rover resulted in more than 2 million gallons of drilling fluids being spilled in wetlands in April. After the two incidents were reported in the media, Energy Transfer said the fluids pose no risk to the environment and said it was "working closely" with Butler's agency.

Butler issued two notices of violation to Energy Transfer in connection with those events. But the Sierra Club found an additional 12 violations by the firm over a four-week period starting in April.

“Energy Transfer is either incompetent, or simply doesn’t care about Ohioans’ safety,” Jen Miller, the director of Sierra Club Ohio, said in a press release. “The recklessness constructing Rover Pipeline has put our clean water, air, and land in immediate danger with its spills and violations, and it must be stopped."

Over in North Dakota, Energy Transfer has faced similar questions. In October 2016, construction crews disturbed a historic tribal site along the path of the Dakota Access Pipeline and failed to notify the state in a timely manner, according to regulators there.

The North Dakota Public Service Commission fined the company a mere $15,000 -- a tiny percentage of the $3.8 billion cost of the project -- but the firm is balking at the punishment. The commission is now looking into alleged violations regarding the removal of trees along the path of the pipeline, the AP reported.

Energy Transfer completed the pipeline over the objections of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and other tribes. The final portion crosses treaty territory just a half-mile north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

Even though work is complete, the tribes are still hoping they can stop the flow of oil as part of a lawsuit in federal court. Energy Transfer has announced May 14 as the earliest possible date for service but a spokesperson later told the Associated Project that the project is expected to be fully operational by June 1.

The spills in Ohio occurred in connection with horizontal direction drilling for the Rover Pipeline. The same type of drilling was used in North Dakota in order to place the Dakota Access Pipeline under the Missouri River.

Read More on the Story:
Ohio EPA orders Rover pipeline builder to pay $431,000 for violations (The Columbus Dispatch 5/8)
Pipeline spill by Dakota Access company could have a ‘deadly effect’ (The Washington Post 5/8)
Ohio fines pipeline builder over water, air violations (AP 5/8)
Dakota Access pipeline developer involved in tree dispute (AP 5/5)