ExxonMobil Pipeline Company agreed Tuesday to pay a $1.43 million civil penalty for an alleged violation of the Clean Water Act during a 2012 crude pipeline spill in Louisiana.
The United States’ complaint, also filed Tuesday, alleged that Exxon discharged at least 2,800 barrels (117,000 gallons) of crude oil from its North Line pipeline near Torbet, Louisiana.
The complaint was filed by the the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Environmental Protection Agency.
According to the DOJ, Exxon’s 20/22-inch-diameter pipeline ruptured about 20 miles west of Baton Rouge on April 28, 2012.
The rupture spilled crude into the surrounding area that then flowed into an unnamed tributary connected to Bayou Cholpe.
A DOJ official said that the settlement “achieves a just result and furthers our enforcement mission.”
The penalty is in addition to the costs Exxon incurred responding to the spill and repairing the pipeline.
Exxon is finishing its cleanup of the spill as ordered by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.
The company is also doing follow-up work and operating under the corrective action order issued by the United States Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
The payment will be be deposited into the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund managed by the National Pollution Fund Center.
The trust fund is used to pay for damages and federal responses stemming from oil and hazardous substances spills.
