Minnesota regulators have determined that Enbridge Inc. must pay $3.2 million in penalties and repairs after construction of the contentious Line 3 oil pipeline replacement project was found to have caused an underground aquifer to leak. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) announced that the mistake has cost a $20,000 administrative penalty, $300,000 for…
Penalties
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SoCalGas to Spend $4M to Settle One Aliso Case, Install Leak Detection System
Sempra Energy’s natural gas utility Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) on Tuesday agreed to pay up to $4.3 million for penalties and to implement an infrared leak detection system to settle a case brought by Los Angeles County that is tied to the Aliso Canyon underground storage facility leak.
Briefs — BLM Fines, Black Elk Energy, California Fire Risk, SEC Disclosure Rules
The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Monday released a congressionally mandated increase in civil penalties for oil/natural gas operators violating regulations on federal and Indian onshore lands. The inflation-adjustment increases are effective Aug. 1 under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Improvements Act passed last year. The increases, which BLM officials called small relative to the overall value of annual production on all federal and Indian oil/gas leases, are aimed at maintaining “the deterrent effect of civil penalties,” and are calculated based on the percentage change in the consumer price index for all urban consumers since October 1987, the year the penalties were established. BLM does not see any undue economic impact on the industry from the larger penalties because it said individuals and companies can avoid the increased fines by complying with applicable oil/gas regulations. Only the civil penalties covered in the 2015 law apply to oil/gas operators, BLM officials said.
BP Rejected in Quest to Cap Macondo Spill Liability
BP plc’s request to cap Macondo oil spill liabilities below the maximum sought by federal prosecutors was rejected Thursday by a Louisiana court.
Industry Brief
Transocean Ltd.’s agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to pay $1 billion in civil penalties related to the 2010 Macondo well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico has been approved by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans. Transocean had employed nine of the 11 men who were killed when the company’s Deepwater Horizon drilling platform was destroyed. The company already has pleaded guilty to a criminal misdemeanor and agreed to pay a separate $400 million fine to DOJ (see Daily GPI, Feb. 15; Jan. 4).
Kinder Morgan to Pay Penalty for Alleged CAA Violations
Kinder Morgan Upstream LLC has agreed to pay $316,000 in penalties for allegedly violating the risk management plan requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) at its natural gas plants in Casper and Douglas, WY, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Thursday.
PG&E Pipe Issues Occupy Regulators
California regulatory staff has released a report urging “significant penalties” for Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s (PG&E) lax natural gas pipeline record-keeping and alleging that some of the misclassifications had resulted in pressures that violated federal standards and presented “significant risks” to the general public and went unreported for years.
CPUC Staff Urges ‘Significant’ Pipe Penalties for PG&E
California regulatory staff released a report late Friday urging “significant penalties” for Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s (PG&E) lax natural gas pipeline system record-keeping and alleging that some of the misclassifications of gas pipelines resulted in them being operated at pressures that violated federal standards. The staff document alleges that the violations presented “significant risks” to the general public and went unreported for years.
Lawsuit Relief Coming for Louisiana Producers
Louisiana oil and gas producers should be able to put the past behind them — or at least not be burdened by outsized penalties for past environmental infractions — now that legislation to curb legacy lawsuits is in the final stretch toward adoption.
PG&E CEO: San Bruno Fines May Hit $2B
When the payouts and penalties are totaled for the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) transmission pipeline rupture and explosion in San Bruno, CA, almost two years ago, the utility may pay as much as $2 billion, CEO Tony Earley said last week in San Francisco.