PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE Editorial: …The state Department of Environmental Protection has fined Halliburton $1.8 million for 255 violations between 1999 and 2011 related to transporting, processing and disposing of hydrochloric acid without classifying it as a hazardous substance. It was one of the largest penalties levied against such a company in state history.
Yet it was a slap on the wrist, not only because Halliburton counts its business in the billions of dollars but also because of the shocking nature of the offense. DEP spokesman John Poister said Halliburton’s facility in Homer City, Indiana County, was used to store unused hydrochloric acid hauled from gas well sites. The company would treat the acid with lime, but some was not neutralized and was sent to facilities not allowed to accept it.
Halliburton was able to escape the attention of regulators because it maintained it was exempt from provisions of the state’s Solid Waste Management Act. A federal exemption exists for oil and gas companies that handle less than 220 pounds of waste per month. That turned out to be nonsense… (more)
EDITOR: Guess why Halliburton only received a “slap on the wrist.”
