Judge Finds $3M Civil Penalty For Oil Spills Is Not Recoverable

Mealey's (January 30, 2017, 1:20 PM EST) -- SALT LAKE CITY — Chevron Pipeline Co. (CPL) cannot attempt to recover a portion of a $3 million civil penalty it paid to the Utah Water Quality Board (UWQB) and Salt Lake City to resolve violations of the Utah Water Quality Act (UWQA) and Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) that stemmed from two pipeline leaks in 2010, a federal judge in Utah ruled Jan. 27, holding that the money cannot be recovered from third parties under either act (Chevron Pipeline Company v. Pacificorp, d/b/a Rocky Mountain Power, No. 12-CV-287, D. Utah; 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11778)....