EPA dispatched two on-scene coordinators (OSCs) to Coffeyville, Kansas on July 1, 2007, following strong storms across south central and southeast Kansas that produced torrential rainfall and subsequent flooding/flash flooding. On July 2, 2007, additional OSCs were dispatched to Coffeyville with the EPA Mobile Command Post to perform monitoring and coordinate pollution assessments related to the flooding. They determined that thousands of gallons of oil, oily water and diesel fuel had been released into the Verdigris River by Coffeyville Resources Refining & Marketing.
On July 1, 2007, Coffeyville Resources Refining & Marketing (CRRM) discharged approximately 2,145 barrels of crude oil, diesel fuel, and oil water from its petroleum refinery in Coffeyville, Kansas, into the Verdigris River during a flood event.
The company has reached an agreement with EPA to pay a $556,244 civil penalty to settle alleged violations of the Clean Water Act at its facility in Coffeyville. In addition to paying the penalty, CRRM will pay $1,746,256 for reimbursement of federal response costs associated with the cleanup of the Verdigris River following a 2007 flood and oil spill.
“The settlement with CRRM requires the company to make upgrades to its facility that will protect human health and the environment from future spills,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks. “In addition to these changes, CRRM is required to pay back the taxpayers for the response costs associated with cleaning up their spill.”
CRRM will also complete other projects to further mitigate the risk of illegal spills or discharges. Among these are the completion and installation of river modeling and monitoring procedures and the implementation of a Wet Weather Plan and training of refinery personnel to ensure proper emergency shutdown of the refinery in the event of a future flood.
The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court. Once it is published in the Federal Register, a copy of the consent decree will be available on the Justice Department web site.
Sandy Smith is the former content director of EHS Today, and is currently the EHSQ content & community lead at Intelex Technologies Inc. She has written about occupational safety and health and environmental issues since 1990.
