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11/29/2023
WT Staff
CWA Crimebox
Environmental Crimes: Fiscal Year 2018; Case ID# CR_3061 (Louisiana)
The following summarizes one of sixty-seven Clean Water Act Prosecutions in Louisiana since 1990
Failure to take spill prevention measures leads to jail time
The defendants in this case were contractors that worked together on an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The Clean Water Act charges came out of a single incident in June 2015, when the defendants were performing a routine procedure on the platform.
Working to unplug a well, the defendants set up for bleeding the pressure from a valve on the well casing. Anticipating a discharge of liquid from the casing, the defendants ran a hose from the valve to the edge of the platform. It is common for liquid containing bore fluid, acid and hydrocarbons- oil residue to discharge with the release of pressure. No containment measures were taken for this discharge.
Investigators of the incident learned that contaminated water shot from the hose into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico as a result of the work procedure performed without spill prevention. One contractor was incarcerated for just under 6 months, another contractor fined $2500 with a year of probation, a third contractor fined $2500 and three years of probation. A supervisor was charged for making false statements to investigators, fined $750 and two years probation.
Incarceration: 173 days Federal fines: $5,750; Probation: 72 months
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