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Kinder Morgan to pay $34,000 for San Diego jet fuel discharge

Release Date: 9/22/2005
Contact Information: Francisco Arcaute, (213) 244-1815

SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a settlement with Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. that requires the company to pay $34,000 for a 2003 oil discharge near San Diego, Calif., a violation of the nation=s Clean Water Act.

Approximately 3,800 gallons of jet fuel discharged into an unnamed tributary of San Clemente Creek in San Diego County in February 2003 after a strainer valve failed to close. Kinder Morgan owns a pipeline that provides JP-5 jet fuel to the Miramar Naval Air Station near San Diego.

"We are very pleased to finally bring this case to a close, "said Daniel Meer, manager of the EPA's Emergency Response, Planning and Assessment Branch for the Pacific Southwest region."Companies that transport petroleum products have a serious obligation to prevent releases to navigable waters. Developing solid response plans and exercising those plans are the key to minimizing future incidents."

Because oil spills present a serious threat to the environment, the EPA requires companies that distribute, process, or refine oil to develop oil spill prevention, control, and countermeasure plans, which require facilities to:

* install proper equipment to prevent an oil release;
* train personnel to properly respond to an oil spill by conducting drills and training sessions;
* outline steps to contain, clean up and mitigate any effects that an oil spill may have on area waterways.

Kinder Morgan recently entered into a settlement with the EPA for a $26,300 penalty regarding spill response training for its facility in Sparks, Nev. As part of this settlement, Kinder Morgan also provided oil response equipment worth $42,000 to the City of Truckee Fire Department.

Kinder Morgan and its subsidiaries operate more than 25,000 miles of oil pipelines nationwide. The company transports more than two million barrels of gasoline and petroleum products per day.

For more information on the EPA=s Clean Water Act, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/region09/water/