US EditionRecord $9.6 Million Fine for Third Coast After Substantial Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration cited systemic safety failures and a 13-hour delay in response in the 1.1 million gallon Gulf spill, proposing a $9.6 million fine.
- On Monday, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration proposed a record $9,622,054 civil penalty tied to the Main Pass Oil Gathering failure that released about 1.1 million gallons into the Gulf off the coast of Louisiana.
- The National Transportation Safety Board found underwater landslides and hurricane-driven seabed movement contributed to the failure and PHMSA said Third Coast Midstream failed to perform new integrity analyses.
- Nearly 13 hours elapsed before workers in the Third Coast control room shut the 18-inch pipeline after oil was first spotted roughly 19 miles off the Mississippi River Delta on the 67-mile Main Pass Oil Gathering system.
- PHMSA proposed a compliance order requiring Panther Operating Company to overhaul geological risk evaluations and plan seabed protections, with safety advocates describing the spill as a systemic failure.
- Given Third Coast's scale and recent nearly $1 billion loan, critics question whether the fine deters noncompliance, as the proposed penalty is less than 3% of estimated annual earnings.
66 Articles
66 Articles
Louisiana Illuminator
$9M fine proposed for pipeline operator for 2023 oil spill off Louisiana coast
A Clean Gulf Associates vessel skims crude oil approximately 4 miles southeast of South Pass Louisiana, Nov. 17, 2023.. (U.S. Coast Guard photo, Courtesy Clean Gulf Associates)The Trump administration has assessed what it’s calling the largest civil fine ever for an offshore oil spill in 2023 off the Louisiana coast. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration sent notice Dec. 31 to Panther Operating Co. of Houston that it has pro…
Associated Press News
Record $9.6 million fine for Third Coast after substantial oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
Pipeline safety regulators have imposed their largest fine ever on the company responsible for leaking 1.1 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast in 2023.
Houston oil company faces nearly $10 million fine for 2023 oil spill off Louisiana coast
WASHINGTON — A Houston-based oil company is facing what the Trump administration says is the largest civil fine ever for a 2023 oil spill off the Louisiana coast.The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Monday that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration notified Panther Operating Co. on Dec. 31 of a proposed $9.62 million fine for the oil spill that released 1.1 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf in November 20…
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