A Mecklenburg County judge has approved Colonial Pipeline's agreement with state regulators that includes nearly $5 million in penalties for a massive gasoline spill in Huntersville two years ago.
The consent order signed by Judge Kimberly Best also requires the company to provide an updated estimate of the size of the spill and revised cleanup plans.
The state Department of Environmental Quality sued Colonial last Novemberalleging that the company broke the law by failing to provide updates on the size and extent of the spill.
Colonial said last week that 1.47 million gallons of gasoline spilled when a previous repair in the underground pipeline broke at the Oehler Nature Preserve about 2 miles east of downtown Huntersville in August 2020. State officials have called it the largest gasoline spill on land in the U.S.
The order requires Colonial Pipeline to update modeling describing the extent of the gasoline leak and contamination. It also requires:
- Quarterly testing for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, a class of long-lasting and potentially dangerous industrial chemicals found at the site.
- Additional wells to test for gasoline in bedrock.
- Monthly testing and reports on surface water quality.
- A Corrective Action Plan and proposed schedule for completing it.
DEQ has criticized Colonial repeatedly for failing to provide accurate data about the size of the spill. The company initially estimated the spill at Colonial initially estimated the spill at about 60,000 gallons, but that proved to be way off.
In January 2021 Colonial raised the number to 1.2 million gallons but said it was continuing to remove gasoline from the soil.
In April 2021, DEQ officials ordered the company to provide an updated estimate and take other steps to clean up the site and improve reporting.
Last week Colonial said in a statement that it's committed to protecting public health and safety and cleaning up remaining gasoline.