for violating Safe Drinking Water Act

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mary Beth Sallee

Managing Editor

Hart County news-Herald

 

Last Thursday on August 15, Logsdon Valley Oil, Inc., also known as Hart Petroleum, was fined $100,000 and sentenced to three years of probation for the federal criminal violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act in 2019.

The announcement came from Michael A. Bennett, United States Attorney of the Western District of Kentucky, and Leslie Carroll, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Criminal Investigation Division that covers the Commonwealth.

According to information on the United States Attorney’s Office – Western District of Kentucky website, Logsdon Valley Oil, Inc., was first convicted of violating the Safe Drinking Water Act in 2013 for the “continued conspiracy to inject fluids, without a permit, into sinkholes and wells in Hart County from March 13, 2008 through July 18, 2012.”

In 2014, Charles L. Stinson of Horse Cave and Ralph Dowell of Edmonton, operators of Logsdon Valley Oil, Inc. at that time, were sentenced to two years of probation for configuring piping that would inject produced brine water (which are fluids brought to the surface in connection with the production of oil) from the tank battery to sinkholes.

In accordance with the plea agreement, Stinson and Logsdon Valley Oil Inc. agreed to a fine of $45,000 to be paid personally by Stinson. Additionally, as part of the terms, Stinson agreed to provide adequate documentation to the EPA that the well used for illegal injection was plugged and abandoned so that underground sources of drinking water were protected from the contamination.

However, in 2019, Stinson and Logsdon Valley Oil, Inc. was charged a second time with violating the Safe Drinking Water Act, once again illegally discharging brine water into sinkholes without a permit.

In October of 2021, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against Stinson and Logsdon Valley Oil, Inc. At that time if convicted, Stinson faced up to three years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. Logsdon Valley Oil, Inc. faced up to three years of supervised release and a $500,000 fine. Stinson passed away in December of 2023. On August 15, 2024, Logsdon Valley Oil was fined $100,000 and sentenced to three years of probation.

“The enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act is vital to keeping Kentucky’s groundwater safe,” U.S. Attorney Bennett stated in a press release. “We will continue to pursue, in partnership with the EPA, those who violate federal environmental laws in order to keep our citizens safe and to protect Kentucky’s natural resources.”

“Illegally injecting brine water into an unpermitted well violates the Safe Drinking Water Act and threatens the quality of groundwater,” Acting Special Agent in Charge Carroll also stated in a press release. “Our nation’s environmental laws are designed to protect public health and safety, and the sentencing of Logsdon Valley Oil demonstrates that the EPA and its law enforcement partners will take action to protect communities and their local water supplies.”

The case against Logsdon Valley Oil, Inc. was investigated by the Environment Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Judd prosecuting the case.

The Kentucky Secretary of State website shows Logsdon Valley Oil, Inc. listed as a for-profit Kentucky Corporation that is active and in good standing. It was formed in 1968, with the most recent annual report filed on April 11, 2024.

According to the United States EPA website, the Safe Water Drinking Act was passed by Congress in 1974 to “protect public health by regulating the nation’s public drinking water supply.” In 1986 and 1996, amendments were made to the law, thus greatly enhancing the recognition of source water protection.

To learn more about the Safe Drinking Water Act or drinking water in general, visit the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Website at www.epa.gov/sdwa.