CO2 pipeline company draws $2.4M fine for menacing federal inspectors

By BC Editor | February 13, 2025

FS Editor Note: Sataria, MS, where the 2020 rupture occurred, had a population of 40 at the time. The rupture caused 45 people to be transported to the hospital; 115% of the population needed medical care.

Workers were manufacturing pipeline to replace a ruptured section of carbon dioxide line that sent 45 people to the hospital in Mississippi

Pam Radtke/Floodlight

 — 4 min read
In April 2024, a Denbury carbon dioxide pipeline in Calcasieu Parish, La., ruptured, causing a plume of CO2 to be released along the ground for two hours. Residents in the area were told to shelter in place. (Calcasieu Parish Police Jury)
Federal inspectors sent to examine a carbon dioxide pipeline being built to replace one that failed in Mississippi were taunted, pushed and blocked from doing their jobs, according to a notice from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

The agency is proposing a $2.4 million fine against pipeline company Denbury and its contractor, Republic Testing Laboratories. The fine is an unusually large amount for an agency that typically proposes fines in the tens of thousands of dollars. Denbury agreed to pay a $2.8 million fine for its pipeline rupture in Mississippi — less than the originally proposed $3.9 million. Read more…

Posted in All States, CO2 Pipeline History, Unintentional Release/Incident