JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — An oil company is agreeing to pay federal and Mississippi regulators $3.5 million and do more to prevent spills.
Denbury Resources, in a proposed legal settlement filed Thursday in federal court in Jackson, would take the actions following oil spills and other problems at facilities in Mississippi and Alabama.
A lawsuit by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality documents oil spills in nine different oil fields in Mississippi, plus one in Alabama, between 2008 and 2015. EPA says Denbury dumped about 7,000 barrels of oil or mixtures of oil and water. The lawsuit also alleges Denbury failed to submit required facility response and spill prevention and control plans.
Denbury isn't admitting fault, but is agreeing to inspect and repair pipelines, tanks and machinery.