A fight between state officials and a Texas-based oil company continues to play itself out in public meetings.
The Dan A. Hughes Company announced Tuesday it was abandoning operations in Florida during a Collier County Commission meeting. Officials from Dan A. Hughes also cleared the air about the oil company’s environmental record.
The meeting was the first time the company addressed county officials in public since news broke last spring that Dan A. Hughes used an unauthorized drilling procedure at an area well.
Hank Kremers, an operations manager with the company, said they complied with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) rules all along.
“It has been reported to the press that Hughes was caught doing an illegal work-over operation,” he said. “First, we don’t consider it illegal in any way shape or form. Secondly, we weren’t caught. The DEP was very much aware of everything we were doing. There was constant dialogue, dates were set, dates were extended. The use of the word ‘caught’ is certainly incorrect.”
However, state officials have said the company did not follow proper procedure or comply with requests following an initial cease and desist order.
Commissioners asked the county’s attorney during their last meeting to begin withdrawing the county’s lawsuit against DEP. State environmental chief Herschel Vinyard also asked commissioners to consider joining the state’s lawsuit against Dan A. Hughes.
However, county commissioners tabled a vote on that until their next meeting.
