Ohio EPA Hikes Fines Against Rover Pipeline to $2.3 Million

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asked the state attorney general’s office Wednesday to hold the owners of the troubled Rover natural gas pipeline responsible for $2.3 million dollars in fines. Rover leaked more than 2 million gallons of drilling mud into protected Ohio wetlands this spring, leading the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to order a halt to construction.

The Ohio EPA claim that while Rover’s owners, Energy Transfer Partners—which also owns the Dakota Access Pipeline—has done sufficient cleanup and monitoring at impacted sites, the company has refused to pay multiple fines. Over the last two years, the pipeline has racked up more “noncompliance incidents” than any other interstate gas pipeline.

For a deeper dive:

Columbus Dispatch, AP, WOSU, Cleve Scene

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