EPA Proposes Settlement With Citation Oil & Gas Corp. To Resolve Violations Of Oil Pollution Prevention Regulations In Park County, Wyoming

Agreement with Texas-based company resolves findings of non-compliance

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a proposed settlement with Citation Oil & Gas Corp. (Citation) of Houston, Texas, to resolve alleged violations of federal regulations intended to prevent oil pollution. The Clean Water Act violations pertain to oil spill prevention requirements and Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations at Citation’s Park County, Wyoming, oil production facilities. Citation will pay a civil penalty of $115,000 to resolve the alleged violations.

This proposed settlement resulted from EPA’s investigation of two spills at Citation facilities. The first spill occurred on February 9, 2016, when Citation released approximately 300 barrels of crude oil from its Embar 3 Facility into Buffalo Creek, a tributary of the Big Horn River. The second spill occurred on August 21, 2019, when Citation released approximately 1000 barrels of produced water from its North Waterflood Station into the same tributary.

"Companies that store oil have a responsibility to follow laws that protect the public and the environment," said Suzanne Bohan, director of EPA Region 8’s Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division. "Due to the harm oil can cause when released to water resources and the environment, every effort must be made to prevent spills and to clean them up promptly once they occur."

In investigating Citation’s spills, EPA discovered deficiencies in Citation’s SPCC plans for the North Waterflood Station and Middle Waterflood Station. The company corrected these deficiencies and submitted corrected plans to EPA, helping ensure that water resources and communities where Citation operates are better protected from damaging oil spills.

Federal oil spill prevention, control, and countermeasure rules specify requirements for businesses that store oil and prevent oil discharges that can affect nearby water resources. For more on the Clean Water Act’s prohibition against discharges of oil into waters of the U.S. and SPCC regulations, visit: https://www.epa.gov/compliance/clean-water-act-cwa-compliance-monitoring#oil.

This proposed Consent Agreement is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final approval by the EPA’s Regional Judicial Officer. To access and comment on the Consent Agreement , visit: https://www.epa.gov/publicnotices/notices-search/location/Wyoming