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Roberson Oil Company, Inc. Fined for Violating the Clean Water Act

Release Date: 02/12/2010
Contact Information: Dave Bary at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov

(Dallas, Texas – February 12, 2010) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has fined the Roberson Oil Company, Inc. of Ada, Oklahoma, $3,693 for violating federal Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations outlined under the Clean Water Act.

A federal inspection of the company’s Jesse Hunton Viola Unit, an oil field production facility in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, on November 9, 2009, found the facility’s SPCC plan did not meet federal requirements, was not certified by a professional engineer, was not approved by the company’s management and did not designate the person accountable for spill prevention. The SPCC plan did not discuss appropriate containment or diversionary structures and equipment, had inadequate or no prediction of equipment failure which could result in discharges and inadequate or no discussion of oil production facilities. The inspection also revealed the company failed to adequately maintain secondary containment and failed to promptly remove accumulated oil from field drainage systems.

An October 26, 2009, EPA inspection of this facility found an unauthorized discharge of oil field brine into a tributary of Clear Boggy Creek and revealed that water located at the discharge point of entry into the tributary was contaminated from brine discharges and salts. On November 4, 2009, EPA issued the company a Cease and Desist Administrator Order requiring the facility to cease all discharges of pollutants from the facility, remove all brine and residual oil from the tributary of Clear Boggy Creek, and within 30 days provide written certification that these activities had been completed.

SPCC regulations require onshore oil production or bulk storage facilities to provide oil spill prevention, preparedness and responses to prevent oil discharges. The SPCC program helps protect our nation’s water quality. A spill of only one gallon of oil can contaminate one million gallons of water.

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

More about activities in EPA Region 6: https://www.epa.gov/region6

EPA audio file is available at https://www.epa.gov/region6/6xa/podcast/feb2010.html