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Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. Settles EPA Complaint Over West Virginia Oil Spill

Release Date: 9/9/2002
Contact Information: Bonnie Smith, (215) 814-5543

Bonnie Smith, (215) 814-5543

PHILADELPHIA – Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation has agreed to pay a $7,400 penalty to settle a complaint with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over an oil spill in Jackson County, W. Va.

EPA cited the company for the August 25, 2000 discharge of 20 to 30 barrels of crude oil from a storage well located about five miles north/northwest of Ripley, W.Va. The oil spilled onto the ground and a portion flowed into a nearby tributary of Sycamore Creek, located 40 feet from the storage wells.

The company has cleaned up the site and mitigated the environmental damage. As part of the settlement, the company neither admitted nor denied liability for the alleged violations.

The Clean Water Act prohibits discharges of oil into United States waterways and coastal areas in quantities that are harmful to the environment or public health or welfare. For more information about EPA’s oil spill program, visit https://www.epa.gov/oilspill.