Taylor Energy Company LLC will pay $43 million in fines and transfer $432 million to the U.S. for damage caused by an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that has been going since 2004.
The Department of Justice announced last month that the Louisiana-based oil-and-gas company will be turning over all of its assets to the U.S. to cover remediation costs related to the longest-running oil spill in the nation’s history. The agreement calls for Taylor Energy to transfer $432 million from the Decommissioning Trust Fund to the Department of the Interior to pay to plug the subsea oil well, decommission the facility and remediate the contaminated soil, according to the announcement. The $43 million is in civil penalties, removal costs and natural-resource damages.
“If an oil spill occurs, the responsible party must cooperate with the government to timely address the problem and pay for the cleanup,” Todd Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, said in the announcement. “Holding offshore operators to account is vital to protecting our environment and ensuring a level industry playing field.”
U.S. filed a civil complaint against Taylor Energy in the U.S. District Court in New Orleans on Oct. 23, 2020. The lawsuit involves seeking removal costs, civil penalties and NRD under the Oil Pollution and Clean Water Acts. Taylor Energy also filed lawsuits against the U.S. between 2016 and 2020 that challenged the Coast Guard’s decision to install a spill containment system. It also appealed the Coast Guard denial of Taylor Energy’s spill cost reimbursement claim amounting to $353 million. This settlement now requires Taylor Energy to drop any lawsuits against the U.S.
“Despite being a catalyst for beneficial environmental technological innovation, the damage to our ecosystem caused by this 17-year-old oil spill is unacceptable,” Duane A. Evans, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, said. “The federal government will hold accountable businesses that violate our Nation’s environmental laws and ensure that any oil and gas company operating within our District meets their professional and legal responsibilities.”
