Posted January 8, 2014
Chesapeake Energy, an Oklahoma oil and gas company,
will pay $10 million for violating the Clean Water Act and for repairs to
wetlands and streams, according to an Oklahoma KFOR News article available here.
The violations stem from Chesapeake’s alleged dumping
of rocks, sand, and dirt into wetlands while building drilling sites and roads,
according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S.
Department of Justice (DOJ).
Reuters
reports that Chesapeake will pay a civil penalty of $3.2 million to settle
Clean Water Act violations in West Virginia.
Chesapeake will also pay an estimated $6.5 million to restore streams
and wetlands.
Companies like Chesapeake use hydraulic fracturing
and horizontal drilling to construct drilling pads for rigs by clearing land that
is then covered by crushed rock. Roads are also necessary to accommodate truck traffic to and from drilling sites.
The Federal Water
Pollution and Control Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251-1387, also known as the Clean
Water Act, prohibits the filling or damming of wetlands, rivers, streams, and
other waters of the United States without a federal permit.
For more information on environmental law, please visit
the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
