EPA Press Office:

Eni US Operating Company pays $113K penalty for Beaufort Sea waste injection violations

SEATTLE (April 26, 2023) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that Eni US Operating Company paid a $113,000 penalty for failing to comply with Safe Drinking Water Act requirements at its Spy Island Drill Site, a man-made island in the Beaufort Sea approximately 40 miles north of Prudhoe Bay.

Eni US Operating Company received U.S. Department of Interior permits in 2017 to conduct exploration activities at Spy Island. Eni and other oilfield operators are also required to comply with an EPA-issued Underground Injection Control permit which sets strict conditions on the operation of underground injection wells for disposal of non-hazardous waste such as drilling muds, a common waste stream that may contain salts, heavy metals, petroleum residue, and other compounds that may present negative impacts to aquifers.  

EPA’s UIC permit also prescribes specific actions operators must take when a failure occurs. For example, injection cannot occur if a well is unable to demonstrate “mechanical integrity,” a term which refers to the proper construction and operations of well components to ensure injected fluids do not migrate outside of the approved injection zone. Upon discovery of failure of mechanical components, fluid injection must stop and may not commence until the integrity is returned to the well and injection is once again approved by EPA.

Continued injection during a loss of mechanical integrity creates a higher risk of injection fluids migrating to shallow aquifers or the surface, presenting a risk of contamination and a possible health and safety concern for workers. In this case, the company’s violations created potential risk to the fragile Beaufort Sea ecosystem.

EPA and Eni US Operating Company resolved this matter through a Consent Agreement and Final Order, which included the assessment of a $113,000 penalty and alleged the following violations of the Underground Injection Control provisions of the SDWA:

• Unauthorized injection during loss of mechanical integrity;
• Injection pressures allowed to exceed allowable limits;
• Failure to continually monitor injection rates;
• Failure to maintain continuous monitoring device; and
• Failure to properly maintain the facility.

For more information about EPA’s Underground Injection Control program visit: www.https://www.epa.gov/uic

Contact: Meshach A. Padilla, 206-593-6182, R10_Press_Team@epa.gov