SALT LAKE CITY — Chevron has agreed to a $4.5 million settlement with Salt Lake City and state environmental officials for two oil spills that polluted a creek and city pond.
Through the agreement, announced Tuesday morning by city officials, Chevron will pay $3 million for mitigation projects, $1 million for environmental and social impacts and a $500,000 civil penalty to the state. Mayor Ralph Becker said the money will be used to repair the waterways and riparian corridors damaged by the two spills. "Salt Lake City’s position has remained constant since the date of the first spill: to hold Chevron accountable for damage to the health of our City’s residents and natural environment," Becker said in a news release. "I am hopeful that as the requirements of the settlement and agencies are met and the assessment of the affected areas is complete, the concerns of our residents will be satisfied." Chevron Pipeline Co. President Randy Curry said the company has taken full responsibility and is committed to restoration. "This agreement further demonstrates our commitment to the Salt Lake community to complete restoration activities and comply with all applicable regulatory requirements," Curry said. A pipeline failure in June 2010 in the mountains above Salt Lake City sent 33,000 gallons of oil downstream and killed all the fish at Salt Lake City’s Liberty Lake, state regulators said, as well as large trees and insects. About 300 birds were coated in oil and had to be cleaned at Utah’s Hogle Zoo. Fewer than 10 died. The city decided to stop the oil spill at Liberty Lake and use it as a collection point. The lake was drained, dredged of contaminated sediment then lined with a protective concrete barrier and rock wall before it was reopened 11 months later. Chevron was fined $423,000 after regulators determined the oil company needed better leak detection safeguards. About 500 barrels spilled nearby in December that officials blamed on a frozen valve. That oil did not make it to the creek.
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