Wyoming environmental regulators won’t disclose penalty sought for huge spill

Wyo. regulators won’t disclose oil spill penalty

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The director of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality said he does not intend to publicly disclose the amount his agency is seeking to fine Sinclair Oil Corp. for a massive spill, but the agency will disclose the fine after it is negotiated.

The May 3 spill at the Sinclair Refinery east of Rawlins released nearly 3 million gallons of potentially explosive, gasoline-grade fluid. The state cited Salt Lake City-based Sinclair on Dec. 30 for not acting to prevent the spill even though an inspection had documented problems with the tank where the spill originated.

DEQ Director John Corra said Wednesday he’s concerned that if the penalty amount sought by his department were made public, Sinclair would have less incentive to settle. The violation then would go to court, he said.

“This is really just a situation where there’s an opportunity for both parties to avoid a whole lot of expense, time and stress and strain. And so that’s the approach that is taken,” he said.

The state hasn’t heard back yet from Sinclair about the citation, Corra said. State law gives the Department of Environmental Quality authority to seek a fine of up to $10,000 a day, he said.

The law doesn’t give Corra’s agency authority to demand payment of fines on its own. Either the violator pays as part of settling with the department or pays at the order of a court.

In settling, Corra said, the entity being cited typically is allowed to admit no wrongdoing.

Wyoming’s open records laws don’t allow the department to withhold the penalty if it’s written down in any way, said Jim Angell, executive director of the Wyoming Press Association.

“Last time I checked, the DEQ works for the people of Wyoming, not the industry,” Angell said. “When I get a speeding ticket, it’s in public record for everybody to see. Why shouldn’t Sinclair be treated the same way?”

The spill happened when a floating storage tank roof took on fluid and sank. The roof punctured the tank bottom in several places, causing the release of 65,000 barrels of a gasoline blending fluid onto the refinery grounds.

Local officials have expressed concern Sinclair didn’t do enough to notify residents of the town of Sinclair, population 400, of the potentially explosive situation.

A similar incident happened at the refinery in 2007. The roof of a tank sank and punctured the tank bottom, causing a much smaller spill of crude oil.