MEADOWLARK MIDSTREAM COMPANY, LLC

Meadowlark Midstream Company, LLC is a Denver-headquartered gas-gathering subsidiary historically tied to Summit Midstream Partners. It operates a single EPA-registered facility at 68th St NW & Hwy 85 in Athens Township, Williams County, North Dakota (EPA Facility ID 110064097677). EPA ECHO data shows 8 quarters of Clean Water Act non-compliance across the most recent 24-month window. Derived penalties reach approximately $8.0 million, scaled from a 5-year assessed total of $20.0 million [source: https://pollutionscan.com/facility/110064097677/meadowlark-midstream-company-llc-athens-township-nd]. The facility carries a PollutionScan composite grade of F (37/100). Zero inspections and zero formal actions appear in the public compliance dataset for the period, despite the active penalty obligation [source: https://pollutionscan.com/facility/110064097677/meadowlark-midstream-company-llc-athens-township-nd].

One enforcement event dominates Meadowlark's compliance record. In January 2015, a rupture in the Blacktail produced-water gathering pipeline near Marmon, North Dakota released an estimated 29 million gallons of produced water — one of the largest inland produced-water spills in U.S. history. The Department of Justice and EPA resolved the matter through a federal consent decree lodged August 5, 2021, in United States v. Summit Midstream Partners, LLC and Meadowlark Midstream Company, LLC, Civil Action No. 1:21-cv-00161-DMT-CRH, District of North Dakota [source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/08/11/2021-17093/notice-of-lodging-of-proposed-consent-decree-under-the-clean-water-act] [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1422086/dl?inline=]. The complaint alleged Clean Water Act violations and failure to make timely notification of the produced-water discharge from the ruptured gathering pipeline [source: https://summitmidstreampartnerslp.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/summit-midstream-partners-lp-announces-agreements-resolve-2015/]. Six years separated the spill from the federal resolution. Meadowlark is privately held; no 10-K or 10-Q disclosures are filed in its own name on SEC EDGAR, and parent-level disclosures historically resided with Summit Midstream Partners.

The compliance profile of Meadowlark Midstream is defined almost entirely by a single Clean Water Act matter and its long administrative tail. In January 2015, a pipeline owned and operated by Meadowlark Midstream Company, LLC — then a subsidiary of Summit Midstream Partners, LP — released an estimated 29 million gallons of produced water near Marmon in Williams County, North Dakota, making it one of the largest inland produced-water spills in U.S. history. The company disclosed that the discharge went unreported on a timely basis, an omission that became central to the federal complaint [source: https://summitmidstreampartnerslp.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/summit-midstream-partners-lp-announces-agreements-resolve-2015/]. Remediation activities, including waterway cleanup under North Dakota Department of Health oversight, were characterized by company officials as transitioning from active removal into long-term monitoring [source: http://www.meadowlarkupdate.com/].

The enforcement resolution arrived six years after the spill. On August 5, 2021, the United States and the State of North Dakota — acting through the Department of Environmental Quality and the Game and Fish Department — lodged a proposed consent decree in the District of North Dakota, Western Division, naming Summit Midstream Partners, LLC and Meadowlark Midstream Company, LLC as co-defendants [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1422086/dl?inline=]. The Federal Register notice, published August 11, 2021, opened the statutory public comment period. It summarized the relief sought: injunctive measures, civil penalties, and natural resource damages under the Clean Water Act and North Dakota law [source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/08/11/2021-17093/notice-of-lodging-of-proposed-consent-decree-under-the-clean-water-act]. The underlying complaint, filed concurrently, set out the factual allegations tied to the 2015 Blacktail Release [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1422091/dl].

Since entry of the consent decree, EPA ECHO continues to flag the Athens Township facility for Clean Water Act non-compliance. Eight quarters of non-compliance appear in the 24-month ECHO window; nine violation quarters appear across the 3-year history. The data also reflects zero inspections logged against the facility in that period and no new formal actions beyond the existing decree [source: https://pollutionscan.com/facility/110064097677/meadowlark-midstream-company-llc-athens-township-nd]. The $20 million 5-year penalty total reflected in ECHO aligns with the civil penalty and natural resource damages framework established by the 2021 settlement, not new standalone actions. No active permits are reported in the ECHO exporter snapshot as of May 4, 2026. No Environmental Justice index is populated for the site, which sits in a rural, low-population-density area of northwest North Dakota. No news coverage in the prior 30 days references Meadowlark-specific enforcement; items labeled "Meadowlark" in general news feeds refer to unrelated businesses, including a Livermore, California dairy and a Beaverton, Oregon housing project [source: https://livermorevine.com/business/2025/12/24/meadowlark-dairy-opens-new-downtown-livermore-location] [source: https://beavertonvalleytimes.com/2025/06/05/meadowlark-place-in-beaverton-nets-750k-for-early-learning-facilities].

Action 1 — United States and State of North Dakota v. Summit Midstream Partners, LLC and Meadowlark Midstream Company, LLC, Civil Action No. 1:21-cv-00161-DMT-CRH, U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, Western Division. Program: Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §§ 1311, 1321) plus North Dakota state water-quality statutes. The complaint and consent decree were both filed August 5, 2021 [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1422086/dl?inline=]. The Federal Register notice opening the public comment period followed on August 11, 2021 [source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/08/11/2021-17093/notice-of-lodging-of-proposed-consent-decree-under-the-clean-water-act]. The facility at issue was Meadowlark's produced-water gathering pipeline, Blacktail system, Williams County, ND. The underlying event: a January 2015 rupture releasing approximately 29 million gallons of produced water into a tributary of the Missouri River system. Allegations covered unpermitted discharge of a pollutant into waters of the United States and failure to make timely notification under CWA § 311(b)(5) [source: https://summitmidstreampartnerslp.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/summit-midstream-partners-lp-announces-agreements-resolve-2015/]. Relief in the consent decree included a civil penalty, natural resource damages payments to federal and state trustees, injunctive requirements covering spill prevention, integrity management, and reporting protocols across the defendants' gathering systems, and a supplemental environmental project framework [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1422086/dl?inline=].

Action 2 — Continuing ECHO non-compliance quarters, Clean Water Act program, Facility ID 110064097677. ECHO records 8 violation and significant non-compliance quarters within the trailing 24 months and 9 within 3 years [source: https://pollutionscan.com/facility/110064097677/meadowlark-midstream-company-llc-athens-township-nd]. The ECHO-derived penalty total attributable to the 24-month window is $8,000,000, pro-rated from the 5-year $20,000,000 total at 24/60 [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. These quarters post-date the 2021 consent decree and reflect continuing oversight rather than discrete new civil actions. No additional formal enforcement actions are recorded in the ECHO dataset beyond the existing decree.

No separate Clean Air Act or Resource Conservation and Recovery Act federal enforcement actions against Meadowlark Midstream appear in the available record. No state-administrative orders beyond those rolled into the federal consent decree surface in the public filings reviewed for this briefing.

Facility 1 — Meadowlark Midstream Company, LLC, 68th St NW & Highway 85, Athens Township, Williams County, ND 58801 (EPA Facility ID 110064097677). This is the sole EPA-registered facility in the company's ECHO footprint. It operates under Clean Water Act jurisdiction tied to produced-water gathering infrastructure in the Bakken formation. The facility holds a PollutionScan grade of F with a composite score of 37/100, driven by 9 quarters of Clean Water Act non-compliance across the past 3 years, a $20 million 5-year penalty total, and zero inspections logged in the public dataset [source: https://pollutionscan.com/facility/110064097677/meadowlark-midstream-company-llc-athens-township-nd]. The EJ index for the site is reported as 0.0 in the ECHO exporter, consistent with the rural, low-density population context of Williams County. That figure reflects an absence of dense demographic overlay, not an absence of environmental impact. Nearby facilities with violations listed in PollutionScan include the Oil Patch Group LLC — Stout 8 site in Williston, ND, indicating that produced-water handling compliance issues extend beyond Meadowlark within the sub-basin [source: https://pollutionscan.com/facility/110064097677/meadowlark-midstream-company-llc-athens-township-nd]. No other Meadowlark facilities appear in the ECHO exporter snapshot as of May 4, 2026 [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

Produced water. The principal pollutant category tied to the 2015 Blacktail Release is produced water — the high-salinity brine co-produced with oil and gas extraction. Bakken produced water carries chloride concentrations that can exceed seawater by factors of 5 to 10, along with dissolved hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and naturally occurring radioactive material. The complaint in United States v. Summit Midstream Partners, LLC and Meadowlark Midstream Company, LLC identified the discharge as a pollutant release under the Clean Water Act, with documented impacts to tributary waters and adjacent soils [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1422091/dl]. Exposure pathways include surface water contamination, shallow groundwater migration through chloride plumes, and long-term soil salinization across the receiving watershed. Each pathway carries its own remediation timeline, which is why the consent decree's injunctive terms extend well beyond the initial cleanup phase.

Hydrocarbons and BTEX constituents. Produced-water releases in the Bakken typically carry benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes as co-constituents. Benzene is a Group A human carcinogen under EPA classification. The consent decree's injunctive terms addressing integrity management and leak detection target reduction of these co-released constituents across the defendants' gathering systems [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1422086/dl?inline=].

Natural resource damages. Aggregate ecological injury is captured in the consent decree as a separate natural resource damages claim payable to federal and North Dakota state trustees, reflecting documented harm to fish, wildlife, and supporting habitat in the affected watershed [source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/08/11/2021-17093/notice-of-lodging-of-proposed-consent-decree-under-the-clean-water-act]. Environmental justice implications in Williams County intersect with tribal resource interests in the Missouri River basin, though ECHO's quantitative EJ index for the site is reported as 0.0 [source: https://pollutionscan.com/facility/110064097677/meadowlark-midstream-company-llc-athens-township-nd].

Direct NAICS 562910 peer comparison is structurally limited because the code covers remediation services and the dataset's top peer returned is UPS (NAICS 56299), which operates 100 facilities with 43 violation quarters and $22.12 million in 24-month penalties — figures that reflect a distributed logistics footprint rather than a single-pipeline release scenario [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. On a per-facility basis, Meadowlark's single site carries $8.0 million in derived 24-month penalties against UPS's $221,200 per-facility average. That is a ratio of roughly 36 to 1. Meadowlark's 8 violation quarters at a single facility also exceed UPS's 0.43 violation quarters per facility. The comparison makes one thing clear: Meadowlark's compliance signal is concentration risk — one facility, one program, one underlying event — rather than the diffuse operational exposure that characterizes a multi-site logistics operator [source: https://pollutionscan.com/facility/110064097677/meadowlark-midstream-company-llc-athens-township-nd].

Meadowlark Midstream Company, LLC is privately held and does not file Form 10-K or 10-Q reports in its own name on SEC EDGAR. No Item 1A risk factor disclosures or Item 7 MD&A narrative are directly attributable to the entity. Historical risk-factor disclosures covering the 2015 Blacktail Release resided in Summit Midstream Partners, LP's periodic filings prior to corporate restructuring. Forward-looking environmental risk for the Athens Township asset is now governed by the injunctive provisions of the 2021 consent decree, which impose ongoing integrity management, reporting, and financial assurance obligations enforceable through the District of North Dakota [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1422086/dl?inline=]. Those obligations run with the asset, not the corporate parent — a distinction that matters if ownership changes again.