How Over 112,000 Gallons of Oil Sat Unprotected by a Kansas Waterway
An oil production company operated two facilities in Kansas with a combined storage capacity of over 112,000 gallons of oil and produced water without the legally required safety plans designed to prevent a catastrophic spill into a tributary of the Neosho River.
A Pattern of Negligence
The EPA’s legal complaint (attached at the bottom of this article) against R.H. Capital-Beets, LLC, lays out a series of facts that paint a picture of systemic disregard for fundamental environmental law.
The company’s two facilities, the “Strauss Lease” and the “20th Street Tank Battery Lease,” were operating in violation of the Clean Water Act, creating a direct and foreseeable threat to local waterways.
- Proximity to Water: The 20th Street Tank Battery Lease, with a capacity of 18,900 gallons, sits just 70 feet from Hickory Creek. The Strauss Lease, with a capacity of 93,870 gallons, is approximately 1,800 feet from the same creek.
- A Direct Environmental Link: Hickory Creek is a continuously flowing stream that connects directly to the Neosho River, a traditional navigable water of the United States. This proximity means any spill could reasonably be expected to foul a major waterway.
- No Plan, No Prevention: At all relevant times, R.H. Capital-Beets failed to prepare or implement a Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan for either facility. This is a direct violation of regulations designed to prevent oil pollution.
- A Spill Occurs: On or around February 25, 2022, the risk became reality. Crude oil was discharged from the Strauss Lease, impacting 250 feet of the lease road and 200 feet of a public road and ditches that run between the facility and Hickory Creek.
- Widespread Failures: A subsequent EPA inspection on March 2, 2022, found further evidence of discharges at the 20th Street facility, including “overfills, leaking storage tanks, and oil stains in the soil”.
- Missing Safeguards: The inspection also confirmed that both facilities lacked basic secondary containment systems for tank batteries and transfer areas- a critical safety measure to contain spills before they escape.
- A Broader Problem: These violations were not isolated. On August 9, 2023, the EPA and R.H. Capital-Beets entered into an Administrative Order on Consent to address noncompliance at 16 of the company’s Kansas leases, including the two cited in this complaint.
The Consequences
The Environmental Toll
The failure to implement a basic SPCC plan, as the EPA itself notes, “leaves a facility unprepared to deal with an oil spill and to prevent a spill from having potentially serious… environmental consequences”. The February 2022 discharge from the Strauss Lease contaminated land and roadside ditches situated directly between the oil facility and Hickory Creek.
The subsequent discovery of leaks and stains at the second facility suggests a persistent, ongoing risk of pollution to the soil and, by extension, the groundwater and nearby creek.
The Erosion of Trust
This case exemplifies a breakdown in the system of regulatory compliance. The Clean Water Act requires operators of such facilities to proactively create and implement spill prevention plans. The EPA’s action against R.H. Capital-Beets came only after a documented spill, revealing a reactive, rather than preventative, enforcement posture.
The fact that noncompliance was identified across 16 of the company’s leases points to a systemic operational failure, not an isolated oversight.
Accountability & The System
The EPA proposed a civil penalty of $83,063 for the violations. This figure is presented as a measure of accountability that considers the gravity of the violations and the company’s culpability.
The central issue is not merely the oil spill itself, but the systemic failure that made it possible. The company operated high-risk industrial sites adjacent to a public waterway without the most fundamental, legally-mandated safety plans in place.
Does a penalty of this size function as a true deterrent, or is it simply factored in as the cost of doing business? Meaningful accountability must needs be a system that ensures the spill never happens in the first place instead of simply writing a check after the fact.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
The EPA has a link right here if you want to see the final order: https://yosemite.epa.gov/oa/rhc/epaadmin.nsf/Filings/7A1DACE8FD28BD9085258CBA006ECF4B/$File/RH%20Capital%20Beets%20Consent%20Agreement%20and%20Final%20Order.pdf
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