Charles L. Stinson, Conspiracy to Violate Safe Drinking Water Act, Kentucky 2012

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – In a shocking turn of events, two oil well operators in Hart County, Kentucky, and their company, Logsdon Valley Oil Co. Inc., have been brought to justice for their blatant disregard of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Charles L. Stinson, 75, of Horse Cave, Kentucky, and Ralph Dowell, 75, of Edmonton, Kentucky, operators of Logsdon Valley Oil Co. Inc., were sentenced to two years’ probation for their crimes.

The sentencing took place in United States District Court by Senior Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr. on August 15, 2012. Stinson and Logsdon Valley Oil Co. Inc. were ordered to pay fines for the continued conspiracy to inject fluids, without a permit, into sinkholes and wells, located in Hart County, Kentucky, from March 13, 2008 through July 18, 2012, in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

According to the plea agreement, Stinson and Logsdon Valley Oil Co. Inc. agreed to a fine of $45,000 to be paid at sentencing. Stinson was to pay the fine personally, with $25,000 paid to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, $10,000 to the Environmental Protection Agency, and $10,000 to the United States. Additionally, Stinson agreed to provide adequate documentation to EPA that the Stinson #6 (the well used for illegal injection) is plugged and abandoned in such a manner that protects underground sources of drinking water from contamination.

The indictment charges Stinson and Dowell with conspiring to violate the Safe Drinking Water Act. Specifically, they configured piping to inject produced brine water (fluids brought to the surface in connection with oil production) from the tank battery to sinkholes, and injected produced brine water into a sinkhole, and conveyed fluids into sinkholes, in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act, Title 42, United States Code, Section 300h-2(b)(2) and Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 144.11.

The defendants’ actions were a clear violation of environmental laws designed to protect clean and safe water sources. The EPA and its partner agencies will actively pursue those who flout environmental laws designed to protect the public.

Stinson and Logsdon Valley Oil Co. Inc. pleaded guilty to violating a requirement of an applicable underground injection control program. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Judd, and it was investigated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency/Criminal Investigations Division and the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection.

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