Chesapeake Appalachia LLC, a subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy, the nation’s second largest natural gas producer, will pay a civil penalty of $3.2 million for violating the Clean Water Act (CWA) in West Virginia, authorities announced today.
The company will also spend an EPA-estimated $6.5 million to restore 27 sites damaged by unauthorized discharges of fill material into streams and wetlands, and implement a comprehensive plan to comply with federal and state water protection laws at the company’s natural gas extraction sites in West Virginia, many of which involve hydraulic fracturing operations.
The violations, which occurred at 27 sites located in the West Virginia Counties of Boone, Kanawha, Lewis, Marshall, Mingo, Preston, Upshur, and Wetzel, included discharging sand, dirt, rocks, and other fill material into streams and wetlands without a federal permit to construct well pads, impoundments, road crossings, and other facilities related to natural gas extraction.
The alleged violations impacted approximately 12,000 linear feet of stream, or approximately 2.2 miles, and more than three acres of wetlands, according to the government. The company will fully restore the wetlands and streams wherever feasible, monitor the restored sites for up to 10 years to assure the success of the restoration, and implement a comprehensive compliance program to ensure future compliance with the CWA and applicable state law.
The settlement also requires Chesapeake Appalachia LLC to perform compensatory mitigation, which will likely involve purchasing credits from a wetland mitigation bank located in a local watershed, to offset the impacts to sites that cannot be restored.
The violations were discovered through information provided by the public and routine inspections, as well as through an internal audit by the company, which voluntarily disclosed potential violations at 19 of the sites.
Chesapeake Appalachia LLC is based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, but the company’s natural gas extraction operations are located in West Virginia.
With this agreement, Chesapeake Appalachia LLC is taking important steps to comply with state and federal laws that are essential to protecting the integrity of the nation’s waters, wetlands, and streams, according to Robert G. Dreher, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
The company pleaded guilty to three violations of the CWA related to natural gas extraction activity in Wetzel County, West Virginia, in December 2012, and was sentenced to pay an undisclosed fine.
Chesapeake Appalachia LLC has been correcting the violations and restoring those sites in full compliance with EPA’s orders since 2010 and 2011, when EPA issued administrative compliance orders for violations at 11 sites.
Related Federal Cases
- Consol Energy Inc., Clean Water Act Violations, West Virginia 2023 · Virginia
- Charles G. Hungler, Jr., Violating the Clean Water Act, Kentucky 2006 · Kentucky
- Justin Charles Baker, Violating Federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, West Virginia 2023 · North Carolina
- Anthony Dale Helton, Failure to Register, West Virginia 2017 · North Carolina
- Jonathan Michael Baker, Child Pornography Distribution, West Virginia 2019 · Washington
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Environmental Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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