HELENA, Mont. (AP) — An oil company has agreed to plead guilty to two criminal charges and pay a $100,000 fine for a 2011 spill on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana.
Under a plea agreement filed Tuesday, FX Drilling Inc. will admit to negligently discharging oil into waters of the United States and to failing to immediately notify federal officials.
The deal calls for the Salt Lake City company to pay the fine on top of the $321,000 it already spent to clean up the spill.
Up to 840 gallons of oil and production fluid leaked from a cracked line at an oil field on the reservation. The spill spread over land nearly a mile to Cut Bank Creek.
U.S. District Judge Brian Morris must approve the agreement. He has set a hearing for Aug. 11.