Texas oil company agrees to pay $1.9M for Wyoming spills

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A Texas oil company has agreed to pay almost $2 million for spilling crude oil and wastewater at two central Wyoming oilfields.

The spills happened between the fall of 2016 and spring of 2018. One was in the Linch Complex Field in Johnson County and five were in the Salt Creek Field in Natrona County, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The biggest spill was about 300,000 gallons (1.1 million liters). The rest were 23,000 gallons (87,000 liters) or less.

Irving, Texas-based Fleur de Lis Energy, LLC, has agreed to pay a $1.9 million settlement, EPA officials said in a release Wednesday.

A phone message left with the company seeking comment wasn’t immediately returned Wednesday.

Fleur de Lis didn’t have adequate plans to prevent and respond to spills but recently has submitted plans that meet regulatory requirements, according to the EPA.

The penalty goes into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund used by the U.S. government to respond to spills of oil and hazardous substances.