SEATTLE (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Feb. 2 that Wilson Oil Inc., doing business as Wilcox & Flegel Oil Co., has agreed to settle allegations of Clean Water Act spill prevention violations at its Longview Terminal facility in Longview, Washington.
The EPA made a 2015 examination of Wilson Oil’s facility and found that the company failed to implement an adequate Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan. Additionally, the facility did not have proper secondary containment equipment for large oil storage tanks.
Since the inspection, Wilson Oil has taken the proper steps to come into compliance – it installed new containment systems and upgraded its SPCC plan. Under the terms of the settlement, Wilson Oil will pay a $44,069 civil penalty. The company also agreed to implement a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) worth approximately $125,000. The SEP should be completed by mid-2017.
The EPA mandates that facilities have proper SPCC plans in place because these plans are critically important in preventing spills, which would have devastating effects on the rivers, lakes and streams of the Pacific Northwest.