EPA Announces Agreement with
Company that Dumped Brine Waste in ANF

The US Environmental Protection Agency has announced an agreement with a company that illegally dumped oil production brine waste on the Allegheny National Forest.

The EPA says the Consent Agreement and Final Order requires Swamp Angel Energy to pay a civil penalty of $54,324, and plug the well that was used for the dumping.

In 2007 and 2008, a former part-owner of Swamp Angel and a former site supervisor dumped about 228,000 gallons of contaminated brine into two pre-existing wells in the Allegheny National Forest without a permit. Wastewater from Swamp Angel’s oil production wells in the ANF was supposed to be disposed of at an authorized treatment facility.

Since then, Swamp Angel applied for and received a SDWA permit from EPA to use one of the wells for disposal of brine generated during oil production. As part of the settlement, Swamp Angel will plug the other well to prevent contamination of underground sources of drinking water.

In 2010, a criminal case involving the company's former part-owner and site supervisor was resolved when John Morgan of Sheffield and Michael Evans of La Quinta, California, pleaded guilty to illegal disposal of brine into these wells. The owner received 10 months of home detention, three years’ probation, a $5,000 fine, and 100 hours of community service. Swamp Angel’s former site supervisor was sentenced to eight months home detention, three years’ probation, a $4,000 fine, and 80 hours of community service.

Swamp Angel is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. As part of the administrative settlement, the company did not admit or deny the violations.

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