Energy Transfer Partners Cited for More Rover Pipeline Violations

The Ohio EPA has cited Energy Transfer Partners for spilling soap wastewater and soil/sediment into a tributary of Irish Creek, Loudon Township, Carroll County. The Notice of Violation comes only days after the company received permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to resume drilling construction at certain locations in Ohio.

For more than four months, Energy Transfer Partners had been under federal orders prohibiting the company from continuing horizontal drilling at new Ohio locations due to numerous environmental violations. Among those was the release of more than two million gallons of industrial waste (drilling mud contaminated with diesel fuel) into a high-quality wetland in Tuscarawas County, subsequently dumping that same material into local quarries near sources for public drinking water, as well as other storm water and air pollution violations.

In this latest incident, Energy Transfer Partners’ 13th notice of environmental violations in Ohio this year, the company’s construction activity caused soap wastewater used in boring operations and soil/sediment to discharge to waters of the state, which is a violation of Ohio Revised Code 6111. Approximately 500 feet of waterway was impacted by the spill, requiring 6,000 gallons of water to be recovered by vacuum truck. The release also violated OAC 3745-1-04 rule by the release/deposit of soap wastewater and silt/sediment, adversely affecting aquatic life and discoloration of the water — an illegal discharge without a permit.

Currently, Energy Transfer Partners is also in violation of Ohio EPA’s July 7 orders, which among several other directives, required the company to file for a construction storm water general permit.

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