All News Releases By Date

UNITED STATES SUES TEXACO FOR POLLUTING SAN JUAN RIVER TRIBUTARIES

Release Date: 3/26/1998
Contact Information: Paula Bruin, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1587

     (San Francisco)--The federal government today sued Texaco, alleging that it spilled more than 500,000 gallons of oil and contaminated water into tributaries to the San Juan River running through Navajo National lands in San Juan County, Utah, violating the Clean Water Act.  The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring Texaco to take action to prevent future spills and to pay a monetary penalty.

     "EPA's action today will compel Texaco to take decisive action to halt the continuing pattern of spills from its oil production facilities," said Alexis Strauss, director of EPA's regional water division in San Francisco.

     The civil lawsuit was filed today by the Justice Department in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  The Clean Water Act violations were referred to the U.S. EPA by the Navajo Environmental Protection Agency.  The lawsuit alleges that the spills occurred at the oil and gas production fields Texaco operates on Navajo Nation lands near Aneth and within the Aneth Chapter area of the Navajo Nation.

     According to the government's lawsuit, Texaco violated the federal Clean Water Act by causing approximately 88 spills between December 1991 and January 1998.  The oil and contaminated water spewed from Texaco's piping system into tributaries to the San Juan River or the river itself.

          The lawsuit also alleges that Texaco violated EPA's spill prevention regulations by failing to have containment equipment and other measures in place in the event of a spill.
     
     Texaco faces a maximum penalty under the Clean Water Act of nearly $2.5 million.

                                       # # #