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ByJohnFlesher TheAssociatedPress OKLAHOMA CITY In April 2013, a malfunctioning oil well in the countryside north of Oklahoma City caused storage tanks to overflow, sending 42,000 gallons of briny wastewater hurtling over a dike, across a wheat field and into a farm pond. State regulators ordered the oil company to clean up as much of the spill as pos- sible and repair the site. But they didn't impose fines or other punishment against Moore Petroleum Invest- ment Corp., a tiny com- pany in Norman that oper- ates only a few wells. Regardless of the dam- age done, the no-penalty policy is standard practice across the country after oil- field wastewater accidents by companies of all sizes. Spills by the tens of thou- sands have denuded farm and ranch lands and pol- luted waters in oil-produc- ing areas for decades, yet only a small minority re- sulted in discipline. Regu- lators' approach toward oil spills is largely the same. "We certainly believe there's a time and a place for thathammer,butwewantto be very judicious in its use," said Matt Skinner, spokes- man for the Oklahoma Cor- porationCommission,which oversees the industry in that state. Moore Petroleum promptly arranged cleanup of its spill, which was acci- dental, he said. Environmental activ- ists and groups represent- ing landowners contend the lack of punishment helps explain why the industry hasn't done more to pre- vent spills, and shows reg- ulators' deference to oil and gas producers. "It's almost a coddling relationship," said Jill Mor- rison of the Powder River Basin Resource Council, an environmental advocacy group in Wyoming, add- ing that it takes large court judgments or settlements for companies to mend their ways. "The industry looks at spills as a cost of doing business." Most states don't keep statistics on wastewater discharges that brought fines. Regulators said their top priority is getting com- panies to clean up the spills and restore the land. A pu- nitive approach could in- spire delays and even law- suits, they said. "Here's a farmer who's got his land polluted and needs it back in produc- tion, and you're busy fight- ing tooth and jowl in court," Skinner said. The drilling boom has vastly increased the agen- cies' oversight challenge. Oklahoma has 67 field in- spectors and other per- sonnel to keep watch over roughly 185,000 ac- tive wells, and the Oil and Gas Division took a budget cut this year. State regula- tors rely on companies or landowners to notify them about wastewater spills. Without industry coopera- tion, more likely would go unreported, officials said. When regulators crack down, the case usually in- volves gross negligence or deliberate action. Williams Production Co. of Tulsa, Oklahoma, had a series of wastewater re- leases from coal-bed meth- ane gas production between 2006 and 2010 in Wyo- ming's Powder River Basin that eroded rangeland and polluted surface waters. At least 11 spills happened on one ranch in less than a year. The state Department of Environmental Quality fined the company $60,000. However, the agency as- sessed nothing against its successor company, WPX Energy, for several more re- cent spills exceeding 1 mil- lion gallons that resulted from bad weather or hu- man error. Company spokesman Kelly Swan said the later spills accounted for less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the wastewater gener- ated in those operations. The oil and gas regula- tory agency in Texas, the state Railroad Commis- sion, emphasizes helping vi- olators get into compliance, said spokeswoman Ramona Nye. Fines are levied as a last resort. In the 2014 fiscal year, only about 3 percent of 62,385 oil and gas rule vi- olations discovered during inspections, such as oil and wastewater spills and inad- equate sign postings, were referred for enforcement ac- tion, according to one state report. "Protecting public safety and our natural resources is the commission's highest priority," Nye said. The state's Sunset Advi- sory Commission, a legis- lative oversight panel, has called for taking a harder line to provide more deter- rence of spills and other oil- field violations. Some of the loudest com- plaints of lax enforcement are raised in North Da- kota, which ranks second to Texas in oil production. In Bottineau County on the Canada border, grain farmer Darwin Peterson still fumes over a 2011 spill that polluted 24 acres of cropland and 10 ponds. No penalty has been levied, al- though regulators said a settlement is being nego- tiated as the responsible company, Petro Harvester Oil & Gas LLC, treats dam- aged soil. "You get so frustrated, it makes me upset just talk- ing about it," Peterson said. Lynn Helms, director of the state Department of Mineral Resources, said his policy of avoiding penal- ties encourages better com- pany behavior. When his of- fice does propose fines, they are usually suspended be- fore full payment, which Helms likened to putting the offender on probation. "We can hold a large sus- pended penalty over their heads for one to five years and they agree to pay imme- diately with no court pro- cess if they violate again," he said. "We don't see much recidivism this way." Since early 2013, the agency has proposed $2,575,000 in fines but col- lected only $203,112. ENVIRONMENT States rarely punish companies for oil wastewater spills Saltresiduefromoilfieldwastewaterclingstovegetation in a pond on farmland in McKenzie County, North Dakota. PHOTOS BY JOHN FLESHER — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Cattle rancher Melvin Reed stands inside a patch of land that was denuded by an oilfield wastewater spill near Shidler, Oklahoma. Brine spills sap moisture from land and create a hard, crusty surface that rainwater can't penetrate, preventing plants from taking root and o en worsening erosion. TEHAMA DISTRICT FAIR SEPTEMBER 24-27, 2015 Publishing5Days Wednesday, Sept. 23 Thursday, Sept. 24 Friday, Sept. 25 Saturday, Sept. 26 & Tuesday, Sept. 29 SPECIALFAIR"WRAP UP" EDITION! Deadline: Monday, Sept. 21, 10 am DAILY COVERAGE EDITIONS 5-DayAd"Flight"Packages startat $ 193 40 ! (6 column inch minimum ad size) "…that's equivalent to just $ 6 45 per published column inch!" GaylaEckels:(530)737-5044 geckels@redbluffdailynews.com Suzy Noble: (530) 737-5056 snoble@redbluffdailynews.com Buy Wed.-Sat. & Get Tues. FREE 95 TH ADD FULL COLOR Only 20% of space cost! 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