CITGO Will Pay $19.7 Million in an Oil Spill Settlement

CITGO Petroleum Corp. has agreed to pay $19.7 million to restore natural resources damaged during a 2006 spill at its southwest Louisiana refinery that saw millions of gallons of waste oil and wastewater sent into the Calcasieu River estuary.

The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reports the agreement involving CITGO’s Westlake refinery came in a consent decree the company entered with the U.S. Justice Department and federal and state trustees in federal court.

Combined with earlier settlements, the new deal means CITGO must pay almost $115 million in fines over the damage the spill caused.