Agreement reached concerning injection well violations on Fort Peck Indian Reservation

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and two oil companies have agreed to settle two enforcement cases brought for violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act at the Anderson #27-1 brine injection well on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Daniels County, Mont.

EPA cited Summer Night Oil Company LLC for failure to conduct required tests on the well necessary to ensure the waste brine injected remains isolated from aquifers that can serve as drinking water sources and for failure to properly report to EPA. Summer Night agreed to pay a $14,468 penalty and to perform the required injection well testing before using the well.

In a separate case, EPA cited Miocene Oil & Gas Ltd. and Miocene Oil Company LLC for violations that include injecting nearly 25,000 barrels of oil field brine into the well without a permit. In settling this second case, the two Miocene companies agree to pay a penalty of $28,000.

Both oil companies are headquartered in Denver.

“Operating an injection well without EPA authorization and failing to operate in compliance with a permit can lead to contamination of underground drinking water supplies,” said Mike Risner, EPA Region 8 Acting Assistant Regional Administrator, “and we’re pleased to have reached an agreement with these oil companies.”

Public notice of the case against the Miocene companies is underway and comments on the settlement are welcome. The public can view this public notice on line at www.epa.gov/Region8/compliance/publicnotice.html. The public notice period for submitting comments ends on July 16, 2007.