The Environmental Protection Agency has fined BNSF Railroad $600-thousand for violations including oil and diesel spills at its rail yards and along railways.
One spill in 2010 affected Lake Oahe.
BNSF reached an agreement with the EPA to resolve the alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act across several states.
Donna Inman is with the EPA. She says the fines stem from several incidents, including a discharge of about 37-hundred gallons of diesel fuel from a locomotive in Mobridge, South Dakota. Some of the diesel in this spill ended up in Lake Oahe.
“The Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures Program is in place so that facilities know how to respond when there is a spill and have the necessary supplies on hand to respond to a spill rapidly and keep it out of the water so the people and the fish and animals can enjoy the water,” says Inamn
Inman says the spill near Lake Oahe occurred in the winter and only part of the fuel reached the Missouri River. She says the penalties in this case also stem from other oil spills, in Colorado, North Dakota, and Wyoming.
An Official with BNSF sent this statement via email:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agreed that BNSF’s responses to the release of fuel in these incidents were prompt and adequate and the agency approved the company's final response plans. While BNSF has agreed to pay a monetary penalty, the company does not agree with every allegation outlined in the original complaint.
