Greka restricted from Bell Lease cleanup

 

For the second time this year, the Environmental Protection Agency has kicked Greka Oil and Gas Company off a cleanup project, charging non-compliance as its reasoning.

As of March 31, Greka is no longer allowed to participate in the oil cleanup taking place at its Bell Lease property, located at 6801 Palmer Road in Santa Maria.

“The EPA is stepping in to prevent further harm to the environment,” Daniel Meer, response chief for EPA, said in a press release.

 

“We have given Greka Oil and Gas every opportunity to properly conduct this cleanup under federal oversight, but they have failed.”

Despite the prohibition, the County of Santa Barbara lifted a stop work order that shut down Greka operations at the Bell Lease located at 6801 Palmer Road in Santa Maria. The stop-work order was rescinded on April 8.

The county determined that Greka corrected all of the Fire Department’s requirements to become operational. These measures included Greka’s implementation of around-the-clock staffing at its facilities, a plan to improve physical containment and the implementation of adequate transfer pipes.

 

Greka has 30 days from the date that the stop-work order was lifted to submit a new Bell System Fire Upgrade Plan, complete a soil categorization, complete a tank inspection, place a net over the pond at the property and remove all fluids from the same pond. If Greka does not comply, the county could issue another stop-work order. 

The Bell Lease spill happened on Dec. 7. According to the EPA, the incident spilled 75,000  gallons of crude oil.

The protection agency is accusing Greka of refusing to remove petroleum and contaminated debris in a timely manner from the site. 

“No work had been done at the site for two weeks,” said Mary Simms, EPA media relations representative.

 

“And with the forecasts of rain, we were concerned about a re-release of oil into the environment.”

Greka maintains that it began the cleanup process but couldn’t proceed as intended because the EPA did not approve its health and safety plan, which was required before actual work could be done on the affected area.

Greka hired FRS, a third-party contractor, to clean up the oil spill; FRS submitted the health and safety plan to the EPA.

“The EPA replied to [the] health and safety plan with a volume of questions and requirements unlike anything they had seen before,” said Greka media spokesman Robert Emmers in a press release April 1.

 

Greka claims that the EPA didn’t give them any notice before taking over the site and that the environmental agency’s actions have gotten in the way of their cleanup efforts. 

“The bottom line: EPA’s hasty actions have prevented Greka from quickly and efficiently completing the cleanup,” Emmers said in the press release.

The EPA also charged Greka with failing to comply with an earlier order that was issued to require Greka to submit work plans for the Bell Lease cleanup by Feb. 14 and Feb. 28.

 

Greka in turn has accused the EPA of making false accusations regarding the work orders, and claims that the work plans were delivered to the EPA.

It is also claiming that the EPA is not coöperating with Greka’s request for additional time to turn in a work order that was due by April 1.

The EPA is standing by its comments.

“Accuracy is a commitment we take very seriously,” Simms said.

“We stand by the information we released.”

 

In addition to the corrective actions, the EPA is conducting an ongoing investigation of Greka, the results of which it will turn over to the California Department of Justice.

When the entire cleanup is done and the costs are determined, the EPA will make a recommendation to the department of justice, which will then decide how to deal with Greka, Simms said.

At that time, the total amount of fines will be determined and added to EPA’s cost for the cleanup, estimated to be about $900,000.