From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Dennis Webb):

A third company has been accused of safety violations in connection with efforts to clean up a natural gas liquids spill involving a pipeline near Parachute. That’s according to citation documents made available Tuesday by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which says actions by the three companies potentially allowed workers to be exposed to benzene and other hazardous substances.

One of the documents shows OSHA is seeking fines totaling $9,180 against W.C. Striegel Inc., a Rangely company that does pipeline work. As previously reported, OSHA also is pursuing fines of $7,854 against Bargath LLC and $10,200 against Badger Daylighting Corp.

The actions relate to the companies’ responses to the discovery this winter of a leak ultimately blamed on a burst pressure gauge on a pipeline leaving Bargath’s gas processing plant northwest of Parachute. An estimated 10,000 gallons of hydrocarbons reached soil and groundwater.

Bargath is a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams, an oil and gas processing and pipeline company based in Tulsa, Okla.

According to the citations, Badger Daylighting employees were involved in excavation work in the pipeline corridor where the leak response was centered, in order to locate contaminated groundwater and soil. W.C. Striegel employees participated in excavation work and removal of contaminated soil. The companies operated under the direction of Bargath.

A failure to follow safety procedures may have exposed the workers to benzene and other volatile organic compounds, OSHA says. Long-term benzene exposure can cause cancer and short-term exposures at high levels can lead to effects ranging from headaches and tremors to unconsciousness or even death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Benzene in groundwater was detected at levels as high as 18,000 parts per billion in March. The federal standard for benzene in water used for drinking is 5 ppb.

OSHA has accused each of the companies of seven identical violations and is seeking fines against each for three violations. Agency spokesman Juan Rodriguez said OSHA sometimes will group violations together and fine for some and not others. Among OSHA’s allegations against the companies are that they failed:

■ to inform employees, or in Bargath’s case the contractors, “of the nature, level and degree of exposure likely as a result of participation in … hazardous waste operations.”

■ to develop and implement a decontamination procedure before employees entered the work site.

■ to evaluate the site for specific hazards and determine appropriate protections for employees.

■ to perform personal air monitoring to ensure workers weren’t being exposed to hazardous substance levels exceeding exposure limits. Some workers have complained about not being provided respirators at first at the site.

■ to ensure employees received pertinent safety training.

Williams has said Bargath hasn’t agreed to or accepted OSHA’s allegations and is working with the agency to resolve them. Badger hasn’t commented and W.C. Striegel could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

Peggy Tibbetts, an oil and gas industry critic living in Silt, wrote on her http://www.fromthestyx.wordpress.com blog Tuesday that the fines are a “slap on the wrist.” “This reeks of appeasement to the public outcry over the spill. Evidently OSHA felt they had to do something. After all, their investigation was reported in the paper. This is a pittance compared to the long term costs due to environmental devastation and degradation of public health,” Tibbetts wrote.

A consent order between a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment division, Williams and Bargath provides for no fine because the leak resulted from accidental equipment failure rather than negligence. However, the department says a fine remains a possibility in the incident.

From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Dennis Webb):

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is accusing a Williams contractor and subsidiary of safety violations in connection with their response to the natural gas liquids leak north of Parachute. The agency is seeking fines of $10,200 and $7,854, respectively, against Badger Daylighting Corp. and Bargath LLC. Bargath is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Williams oil and gas pipeline and processing company.

OSHA is accusing Badger and Bargath of violating hazardous waste operation and emergency response safety standards. It has accused each of them of seven violations but is pursuing fines for three violations apiece. The individual fines amount to $3,400 and $2,618, respectively, against Badger Daylighting and Bargath.

The actions relate to initial cleanup efforts after the discovery of a leak that was blamed on a valve pressure gauge leak from a natural gas liquids pipeline leaving Bargath’s gas processing plant near Parachute Creek. The leak is believed to have occurred this winter and resulted in an estimated 10,000 gallons of hydrocarbons reaching soil, groundwater and, in small amounts, the creek itself. Those hydrocarbons include benzene, a carcinogen.

Williams previously has said at its website, http://www.answersforparachute.com, that OSHA told it a Badger employee filed a complaint. Workers reportedly were concerned about not being immediately provided respirators at the leak site.

In an update on that website, Williams said the OSHA allegations against Bargath relate to worker safety training and processes, and allege that on the day after the leak discovery, Bargath did not have a fully developed written program for safety, site control, training and decontamination related to an emergency release of waste. “Bargath has not agreed to or accepted OSHA’s allegations, and is currently working with OSHA within its guidelines to fully resolve the citations,” Williams said.

It also has said that it has been told by Badger that four employees who were concerned about benzene exposure were examined by a physician and cleared to return to full-duty work.

Williams also says on its website, “You should know that all employees and contractors are given a thorough safety orientation before they are allowed to begin work. As part of that briefing they are empowered to stop work and remove themselves from any situation they feel is unsafe.”

A Badger employee who asked not to be identified said Monday he worked at the cleanup site for a number of days without a respirator. “Never were we ever told that we were dealing with a hazardous chemical,” he said. He said he experienced headaches, cramps and aching joints after working at the site. The employee said he recently was tested for benzene in his body and a minimal amount was found. However, he wasn’t tested for benzene immediately after working at the site, he said.

Badger did not return a call seeking comment.

Cleanup efforts at the leak site continue. Williams says only one test site on the creek has tested positive for benzene since May 14, and benzene at that site hasn’t topped 1.9 parts per billion during the last 30 days. The state drinking water standard is 5 ppb, but a more lenient standard applies to the creek. Williams continues to await state approvals to begin operating a system to remove treated contaminated groundwater and return it to the aquifer.

From The Denver Post (Bruce Finley):

Federal investigators found that Rangely-based Striegel Inc., Williams Co. subsidiary Bargath and Rifle-based Badger Daylighting Corp. failed to protect workers they sent to excavate toxic soil near Williams’ Parachute Creek gas plant, where a spill was revealed in March. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued more than $27,000 in fines for what it described as “serious violations,” which may include failure to provide workers with proper respirators…

“OSHA also wants to ensure that workers know their rights and that employers know their responsibilities for protecting workers,” Department of Labor spokesman Juan Rodriguez said. “Responding to a chemical spill without the appropriate level of respiratory protection places the employees at risk of sustaining adverse health effects resulting from their exposure.” OSHA concluded its investigation and “wants to ensure that the responding organizations implement the appropriate precautions needed to fully protect all workers from the safety and health hazards associated with their cleanup work,” Rodriguez said.

Click through to the Post article to read the letters from OSHA to the three companies.

More oil and gas coverage here and here.