Hibernia ordered to pay $250K for failing to prevent 2013 oil spill

The company responsible for theHiberniaoilplatform has been ordered to pay $250,000 in connection with an offshore oil spill in December2013.

The spill, which happened over the course of two days on Dec. 27 and 28,happened when oil was being pumped from the platform to the tanker Kometik.

In provincial court Friday, theHibernia Management and Development Company was found guilty of failing to pump the oil "without ensuring that it could be it could be done without causing pollution," contrary to regulations.

The company has been fined $80,000 for the spill and isordered to pay an additional $170,000 into an environmental damages fund to beused for the protection or restoration of the environment in Newfoundland and Labrador, or related research.

HiberniaManagement and Development Company had originally faced four charges but three were withdrawn. The company pleaded guilty to the fourth charge.

In a statement to CBC, the company saidit deeply regrets that the spill occurred and hastaken action to address what caused it.

It saidthe incident was due to failure of the offshore loading system, even though the equipment was newly installed in 2012.

"The Hibernia offshore and onshore workforce is committed to operating in an environmentally responsible manner," the statement read.

"We have put additional operating procedures, inspections and maintenance routines in place to specifically address the issues we encountered with the equipment."