Chesapeake Appalachia pleaded guilty on Friday in federal court to three violations of the Clean Water Act related to natural gas drilling activity in northern West Virginia, according to a news release from United States Attorney William Ihlenfeld II.

Chesapeake pleaded guilty to three counts of Unauthorized Discharge into a Water of the United States.

Ihlenfeld said the natural gas company dumped 60 tons of crushed stone and gravel into Blake Run in Wetzel County. The government said Chesapeake built a road across the creek to make easier access to a drilling site, which they said filled in three wetlands and destroyed a natural waterfall.

A plea agreement calls for Chesapeake to pay a fine of $200,000 for each conviction, for a total fine of $600,000. It also requires that Chesapeake be placed onto probation for two years and be under the supervision of the court during that time period.

-UNEDITED NEWS RELEASE: Chesapeake pleads guilty to Clean Water Act violations

Ihlenfeld said in the release that, "Chesapeake violated the Clean Water Act when, in 2008, it selected the location for an access road to a site associated with its drilling activities, hired construction contractors to discharge and spread rock and gravel in Blake Fork in order to develop access to the Hohman Pit, and supervised and directed the work of the construction contractors. These contractors hired by Chesapeake discharged gravel from dump trucks into Blake Fork, also known as Blake Run, on at least three separate and distinct occasions."

The release further stated that, "Chesapeake's contractors, under the supervision of a Chesapeake employee, subsequently used bulldozers to spread the 60 tons of gravel in Blake Fork to develop access to the Hohman Pit in order to facilitate Marcellus Shale gas drilling activities. Chesapeake failed to obtain a Clean Water Act permit prior to this discharge."

Ihlenfeld said Chesapeake also admitted that after discharging the stone and gravel that it then spread the material in the stream to create a roadway for the purpose of improving access to a site associated with Marcellus Shale drilling activity in Wetzel County.

In addition, the parties agreed that separate violations committed by Chesapeake and occurring in connection with impoundments constructed in Marshall and Wetzel Counties would be addressed by civil penalties and not via criminal charges.

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