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Tuesday, Sep. 1, 1998
Koch accused of negligence for 15 spills
Firm disputes agency's lawsuit over cases in Texas, elsewhere
By JEAN YAEGER
Associated PressTULSA, Okla. - Koch Industries Inc.'s gross negligence and willful misconduct caused 15 spills of oil and petroleum products that endangered creeks and rivers in four states, including Texas, the government says.
The Wichita, Kan.-based company says the allegations in a lawsuit are false and belated. Federal agencies previously led the company to believe its conduct was appropriate and commendable, according to Koch.
And Koch takes issue with what it characterizes as an attempt to stretch the Clean Water Act's definition of navigable waterways to include dry creek beds and ditches that have no bearing on interstate commerce.
The U.S. Department of Justice sued in Tulsa to stop the alleged pollution and to penalize Koch. A settlement conference is scheduled Wednesday so that attorneys can update U.S. Magistrate Frank McCarthy.
The complaint cites 15 spills since 1992: eight in Oklahoma, five in Texas and one each in Kansas and Louisiana. The Texas Attorney General's Office joined the case as an intervenor.
(One of the 15 spills occurred in Copano Bay in Refugio County on May 13, 1997. A Koch spokesman told the Caller-Times at that time that the spill was contained to a grassy area on undeveloped ranchland.
(The spill involved about 1,000 barrels of oil that leaked from a 12-inch Koch Industries pipeline into a remote area two or three miles from the coast and about 30 miles north of Corpus Christi, authorities told the Caller-Times. The pipeline runs from Refugio to Ingleside.
(A Koch pilot discovered a puddle of crude oil in a 10-acre parcel of marshy land about 1.5 miles south of Farm-to-Market Road 1360, one-half mile north of the Aransas River, Koch spokesman Rich Tuttle told the Caller-Times.
(At the time, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists said the effect of the spill on area wildlife appeared minimal. They said the spill posed no threat to a habitat for endangered whooping cranes.
(Tuttle said Koch paid for the cleanup of the spill.)
Defendants in the federal lawsuit are Koch Industries, Koch Gathering Systems Inc. and Koch Pipeline Co. The pipeline network of almost 40,000 miles carries crude oil, refined products, anhydrous ammonia and natural gas.
``On numerous occasions in the past five years . . . the defendants' pipelines and onshore facilities in the named states have ruptured causing oil and/or hazardous substances to spill into the environment and into the waters of the United States or the adjoining shorelines,'' according to the lawsuit, filed in July 1997.
Court papers from Koch said the company has spent tens of millions of dollars in steps to comply with the Clean Water Act.
Koch court filings say the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Coast Guard in fact made the company believe it set an example for other businesses in the petroleum industry.
``Plaintiff's conduct over the past five years has been in bad faith, unconscionable, in violation of the agencies' internal policies and non-discretionary duties, deceptive, manipulative and orchestrated solely to position plaintiff so that it could seek exorbitant fines,'' attorneys for Koch wrote.
The company contends it has properly reported and attended to all spills. Leaks in its oil pipelines have been reduced 92 percent since 1990, according to a news release.
The Clean Water Act prohibits release of harmful quantities of oil into America's navigable waters and shorelines, the lawsuit says.
``Unless restrained by this court, defendants will continue to discharge oil into the waters of the United States,'' according to the government.
Government attorneys accuse Koch of ``gross deficiencies'' in production of documents for the case.
Koch said it handed over more than 500,000 pages of documents in response to the government's burdensome requests during the litigation.
``They want, either by desire or effect, to use their unlimited resources to wear down Koch and hope that it will agree to a settlement, rather than participate in endless and expensive discovery,'' company attorneys wrote.
Staff writer Jeffrey Tomich contributed to this report. He can be reached at 886-4316 or by e-mail at tomichj@scripps.comPost your comments about local news eventsFront Page || Main Index || News || Business || Texas || South Texas Outdoors || Birdwatching || Sports || Entertainment || Selena || Education || South Texas Attractions || World Wide Web