More than a year after Chevron’s second oil spill from the same pipeline fouled Salt Lake City waterways, $3 million in penalty money is about to be disbursed by the oil giant.
The Utah Department of Environmental Quality has selected 14 projects to receive portions of the Chevron settlement for improvements along Red Butte Creek and downstream waters.
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Projects awarded
Penalty money stemming from two 2010 Chevron pipeline oil spills has been awarded to 14 northern Utah recipients, from Red Butte Creek to the Jordan River. For a complete list of how Chevron’s $3 million will be disbursed, go to › http://1.usa.gov/zfyWpy
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Big winners include the Miller Park bird refuge restoration project and 900 South Oxbow restoration project along with the Jordan River and the pond at Liberty Park.
Red Butte Creek, which took the brunt of the first June 2010 spill, scored money for stream-bank stabilization. Cash also was awarded for several Farmington Bay Water Fowl Management Area projects, and for a Tracy Aviary watershed outreach and education initiative.
"This is an opportunity to enhance and protect Red Butte Creek and other waters affected by the oil spill," Walt Baker, director of Utah’s Division of Water Quality, said in a statement. "The selected projects are in addition to Chevron’s ongoing obligation to complete cleanup measures in the impacted waterways."
In June 2010, 33,600 gallons of crude spewed from Chevron’s east-bench pipeline, defiling the urban stream, Liberty Park pond and portions of the Jordan River. In December of that year, 21,000 gallons oozed from the same pipeline through the snow near Red Butte Garden.
For months, Chevron dispatched cleanup crews along the stream and Jordan River, while the Liberty Park pond was roped off even longer. Even so, outspoken residents complain Chevron still has not done enough. And they insist the penalty amounts to a slap on the wrist.
Chevron did pay Salt Lake City $1 million for the disruption to Liberty Park and Red Butte Creek — and the company paid a $500,000 civil penalty to the state.
Three requests for the $3 million agreement, including one by the Natural History Museum of Utah to enhance habitat for mule deer, were rejected.
Under the settlement terms, the projects must be completed by Nov. 10, 2014.
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