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Hilcorp Energy Company Fined for Violating the Clean Water Act

Release Date: 11/15/2012
Contact Information: Dave Bary or Jennah Durant at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov

(DALLAS – November 15, 2012) The Hilcorp Energy Company of Houston has been fined $26,100 by the Environmental Protection Agency for Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure violations under the Clean Water Act.

A March 28, 2012, inspection of the South Pass Block 24 offshore oil production facility in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, found the company failed to address secondary containment for spilled gasoline and collection of oil discharges. The spill prevention and countermeasure plan did not provide a spare pump or method of activation for surface and underground valves at the facility, and the company had not developed or implemented a response plan to address a major oil discharge.

Federal regulations require facilities with more than 42,000 gallons of oil storage capacity and transport oil over water to maintain a Facility Response Plan. The facility has a storage capacity of over 477,000 gallons of oil with a drainage area from Zinzin Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. The facility did not have a Facility Response Plan.

Additional information on SPCC regulations is available at: https://www.epa.gov/oilspill

More about activities in EPA Region 6 is available at https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.html