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The Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality and Waring Oil Company, LLC (“Waring”) entered into a January 18th Agreed Order (“AO”) addressing an alleged violation of the Mississippi Code related to the release of petroleum waters into waters of the state.

The AO states that on June 13, 2017, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (“MDEQ”) Emergency Response Division received a request for assistance from its field service division regarding an alleged active discharge of oil from Waring, located in Biloxi, Mississippi.

MDEQ’s state On Scene Coordinator is stated to have immediately enacted mitigation measures which included deployment of a polypropylene boom in an effort to contain petroleum product. The petroleum product was stated to have been contained and Waring was advised that a discharge to waters of the state had occurred. The company is stated to have been further ordered to implement its Spill Prevention, Control, Countermeasure Plan.

Waring complied by conducting site stabilization, remediation, and removal efforts through an environmental contractor.

Waring was stated to have been contacted regarding an alleged violation described as:

• Mississippi Code § 49-17-29(2)(1): Except as in compliance with paragraph (b) of this subsection, it is unlawful for any person to cause pollution of any waters of the state or to place or cause to be placed any waste in a location where they are likely to cause pollution of any waters of the state.

The AO alleges that Waring:

. . . experienced a petroleum release event that discharged approximately 250 gallons of petroleum product that impacted waters of the state as a result of the discharge.

MDEQ’s On Scene Coordinator is stated to have determined that no further cleanup action was required by Waring once a maintenance phase ended.

A civil penalty of $8,000 is assessed by the AO.

A copy of the AO can be downloaded here.