Ammonia Spills in Nebraska, Kansas Cost Pipeline Firms $3.65M

The two spills, which occurred in 2004, resulted in significant fish kills in surrounding waterways.

Magellan Ammonia Pipeline, of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Enterprise Products Operating, of Houston, Texas; and Mid-America Pipeline Company, also known as MAPCO, also of Houston, agreed to the settlement in the form of a consent decree filed today in U.S. District Court in Kansas City.

In a complaint filed jointly with the consent decree, the United States alleges that Magellan, which owned the pipeline, along with operating firms Enterprise and MAPCO, were responsible for the two ammonia spills.

The first spill occurred on September 27, 2004, near Blair, Nebraska, killing an estimated 1,000 fish along North Creek and a golf course pond. The rupture of the pipeline near Blair resulted in the hospitalization of one person and the evacuation of homes within a one-mile circumference of the break.

The second spill was more serious. It occurred on October 27, 2004 near Kingman, Kansas, when an eight-inch pipe ruptured, releasing more than 200,000 gallons of ammonia.

Ammonia vapor cloud rising from the pipeline rupture near Kingman, Kansas. October 27, 2004. (Photo courtesy NTSB)

The Kingman pipeline rupture resulted in a 40-foot high vapor cloud that was a mile long and resulted in the evacuation of four nearby families.

The spill killed more than 25,000 fish along a 12.5-mile section of Smoots Creek, including some threatened species, according to investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board.

"The Kingman spill caused severe environmental damage, killing all fish for more than 10 miles in Smoots Creek, which is one of Kansas' high-quality streams," said Ron Hammerschmidt, environmental services division director for EPA Region 7 in Kansas City.

The penalty to be paid under this settlement reflects the seriousness of the violation," he said. "The actions the company will take under the settlement should help prevent this kind of spill from happening in the future."

The federal government alleges that as operators of the pipeline system, Enterprise and MAPCO violated the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Liability and Compensation Act by failing to immediately notify the National Response Center about the spills.

The U.S. EPA requires that an anhydrous ammonia release equal to or greater than 100 pounds of ammonia, equivalent to about 20 gallons, be reported within 15 minutes of discovery.

The Kingman spill was not reported to the National Response Center for nearly two hours, and when it was reported, the center was told only 20 gallons had been spilled and damages were less than $5,000.

In fact, 204,000 gallons of ammonia was spilled near Kingman and the damage and cleanup costs amounted to $680,715, the NTSB report states.

"These two pipeline spills were significant and proper notification was not given to National Response Center when they occurred," said John Cruden, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.

"Today's settlement will ultimately result in better training of employees and implementation of prevention systems to reduce the possibility of future discharges of harmful chemicals," he said.

Under the settlement, Magellan has agreed to spend an additional $550,000 on improvements to prevent or minimize spills along selected segments of its pipeline system, and will establish a program to minimize third-party damage to the system.

As for the cause of the Kingman spill, between 1990 and 1992, the property owner at the spill location had used his backhoe to grade the banks of an unnamed stream to create a vehicle ramp 100 feet north of the pipe rupture. The Safety Board concludes that heavy equipment damage to the pipeline gouged the pipe, starting metal fatigue cracking that led to the eventual pipeline rupture.

Magellan presently operates the ammonia pipeline, having terminated its operating agreement with Enterprise and MAPCO in 2007.

In the consent decree, Magellan promised to make a series of required improvements in its employee training, leak response procedures, and protocols for detecting and responding to leaks and ruptures.

Copyright Environment News Service, ENS, 2009. All rights reserved.