SHREVEPORT, La. (Legal Newsline) – The federal government and a Louisiana agency are seeking penalties from the owners and operators of pipelines over three oil spills in three states.
United States of America and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality filed a complaint on Jan. 30 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Shreveport Division against Sunoco Pipeline LP and Mid-Valley Pipeline Co. over alleged violation of the Clean Water Act.
According to the complaint, between 2013 and 2015, three discharges of oil from different oil pipelines owned by defendants occurred in Tyler County, Texas; Caddo Parish, Louisiana; and Grant County, Oklahoma.
The plaintiffs claim the defendants were not authorized by any permit to discharge the oil from waters of the United States.
The plaintiffs seek declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, civil penalties of no more than $32,500 for each day of violation, costs of action, and such other and further relief as the court deems just and proper. They are represented by Jeffrey Bossert Clark and R. Shea Diaz of Environment and Natural Resources Division United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Shreveport Division case number 5:19-cv-00107-EEF-MLH