Houston-based distributors TE Products Pipeline Co. LLC and TEPPCO Crude Pipeline LLC have been fined approximately $2.8 million for allegedly dumping fuel into waterways in the South, the Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency said last Wednesday.

The two affiliated companies were accused of discharging approximately 6,470 barrels of jet fuel, gasoline and crude oil into multiple waterways in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma between November 2001 and May 2005, federal authorities said.

Under the terms of a consent decree, the companies will pay a total of $2.865 million in penalties and complete approximately $2.6 million in upgrades to monitor their systems.

The complaint and consent decree were filed last Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Beaumont. The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court.

TE Products Pipeline is one of the largest common carrier pipelines for refined products and liquefied petroleum gases in the United States, while TEPPCO Crude Pipeline is a crude transporter and gatherer in Texas and Oklahoma. The two companies are the operating companies of TEPPCO Partners LP, a master limited partnership that also owns natural gas gathering and pipe assets.

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