A Chesapeake Energy subsidiary agrees to nearly $10 million in fines and restoration work to settle federal allegations over unauthorized discharges of fill material at more than two dozen natural gas extraction sites in West Virginia.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice announced the settlement Thursday.
Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake's subsidiary, Chesapeake Appalachia LLC, will pay a $3.2 million fine and spend $6.7 million on restoration work. It also agreed to implement a plan to follow water protection laws.
A Justice Department statement says the fine is one of the largest involving Clean Water Act provisions pertaining to the burial of streams and wetlands without permits.
The statement says the settlement resolves alleged violations at sites in West Virginia's Boone, Kanawha, Lewis, Marshall, Mingo, Preston, Upshur and Wetzel counties.
