ConocoPhillips pays $2.3 million for oil spill
SEATTLE – ConocoPhillips and a subsidiary that owns a tanker blamed for a crude oil spill that sullied 21 miles of Puget Sound shoreline have agreed to pay the federal government more than $2.3 million, the U.S. Coast Guard said Monday.
Most of the settlement will repay the roughly $2.23 million it cost to clean up the Oct. 13, 2004, spill, which authorities estimated at more than 1,000 gallons. The companies will also pay an $80,000 civil penalty under the federal Clean Water Act.
“Today’s settlement with ConocoPhillips sends a strong signal to the tank vessel industry that those who spill oil and pollute the pristine waters of Puget Sound will be held fully accountable,” Coast Guard Capt. Steve Metruck said in a statement.
The settlement came after Houston-based ConocoPhillips agreed last Friday to pay the state Department of Ecology $540,000 in civil penalties. Ecology officials said it was the largest fine the department has ever issued for a spill in marine waters, and the maximum possible penalty under state law.
Federal and state claims for damage to natural resources remain unresolved, the Coast Guard said. Federal lawyers announced last month that they would not be pressing criminal charges related to the spill.
ConocoPhillips did not immediately return calls seeking comment Monday. After last week’s settlement, company spokesman Phil Blackburn refused to comment beyond a company statement saying, “The settlement with the Washington state Department of Ecology reflects our commitment to good corporate stewardship.”
ConocoPhillips and Polar Tankers, the Long Beach, Calif., owner of the vessel Polar Texas, never reported the spill in Dalco Passage between Tacoma and Vashon Island, which authorities say happened at night.
By morning, when a tugboat operator reported the spilled oil, a sheen had spread as far south as the Tacoma Narrows and as far north as Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island, a span of about 30 miles.
Investigators later matched the oil to Alaska crude that the Polar Texas had delivered to a refinery at Tacoma. The tanker, which was the only ship carrying crude oil in that part of Puget Sound at the time of the spill, has since been decommissioned.
The Coast Guard said the oil likely escaped when the aging ship filled empty cargo tanks with water to maintain stability. If not done correctly, residual oil in the on-board tanks or pipelines can escape when water is drawn in.
The Ecology Department said one oiled Western grebe recovered during the spill was later cleaned, treated and released back into the wild.
A duck with several fractures and traces of oil in its feathers had to be euthanized.