MANSFIELD — A representative from Energy Transfer Partners, the Texas-based company constructing the Rover Pipeline project, responded Tuesday to unilateral order issued last week by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

“We are working to comply with the directives in the final order from the Ohio EPA and continue to work with FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission),” said ETP public relations & communication specialist, Alexis Daniel in an email statement Tuesday, July 11.

Ohio EPA Director Craig W. Butler’s Final Findings and Orders — issued Friday, July 7 — directs the ETP to immediately implement its Release Prevention and Emergency Response Contingency Plan and take other steps to protect “public health and the environment.”

Ohio EPA Media Relations Manager, James Lee said Rover representatives have previously refused to enter an agreement with the state agency.

“The others were proposed orders asking them to enter a consensual agreement,” Lee said Tuesday. “Because Rover (Pipeline) has refused to enter into consensual orders, the director of the Ohio EPA has issued unilateral orders.”

On April 29, Rover Pipeline submitted a revised Contingency Plan to the Ohio EPA, which responded with suggestions on May 3. On May 5, pipeline representatives again submitted a revised plan that included some of the EPA’s comments.

On July 7, the EPA responded through a letter, specifically mentioning inadvertent returns of drilling mud in large bodies of water like the Tuscarawas River.

“The drilling mud, which is a mixture of naturally occurring Bentonite clay and water and is safe for the environment, is used to help facilitate horizontal directional drills and is used in all types of infrastructure projects that use HDDs as a part of the construction process,” Daniel said in a May statement.

An inadvertent return of more than 2 million gallons was reported on April 13 in Stark County, which affected a wetland area near the Tuscarawas River.

In this instance, diesel fuel was discovered in the Bentonite clay, according to Lee. This classifies it as industrial waste, which is required by the EPA to be disposed of at a license municipal solid waste landfill or other authorized location.

“Rover had been disposing of the mud in the quarries,” Lee said.

In eastern Richland County, an estimated 50,000 gallons of drilling fluids were dumped into a wetlands in Mifflin Township on Friday, April 14.

The first in a list of eight orders addresses the Contingency Plan.

“Within seven days of the effective date of these Orders, the Respondent shall submit a revised Contingency Plan, addressing comments provided in Ohio EPA’s letter of July 7, 2017 for Ohio EPA’s review and approval.”

After the EPA approves an updated version, the Orders allow an additional week for parties related to the Rover Pipeline project to implement the plan.

Additionally, in a letter dated July 7, Butler requested that the Ohio Attorney General Michael DeWine initiate civil proceedings.

“I hereby request that you initiate civil proceedings to pursue civil penalties against Rover Pipeline, LLC, and any other appropriate parties,” the Ohio EPA director wrote.

The Rover Pipeline has accumulated more than 30 violations, which include unauthorized discharges, storm water pollution and industrial waste disposal, open burning and water quality violations.

If Rover Pipeline doesn’t comply with the Director’s Findings and Orders, the letter further authorizes civil proceedings to “compel compliance with these orders and any other environmental law that has been violated.”

The Rover Pipeline begins in Southeastern Ohio, Western West Virginia and Southwestern Pennsylvania before it travels northwest across Ohio. It crosses the upper half of Richland County as well as through neighboring Ashland and Crawford counties, and concludes in Livingston County, Michigan. The pipeline is designed to transport 3.25 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily.

A fraction, 35 out of the total 713 miles, runs through Richland County. A second pipeline, which will run parallel to the first, should be complete this fall.

In May, the Rover Pipeline was instructed to ­halt all horizontal drilling activity by the FERC. While this does not directly impact Richland County, the order is still in effect and will be until Rover is given authorization to proceed.