W&T Offshore Announces Deal to Resolve Federal Clean Water Act Investigation

W&T Offshore, Inc. (NYSE: WTI) todayannounced that it reached an agreement with the United States Attorney'sOffice for the Eastern District of Louisiana that resolves environmentalviolations related to the Company's Ewing Banks 910 oil and gas productionplatform ("EW-910") in the Gulf of Mexico. During 2009, employees of a contractor working for W&T Offshore on the EW-910platform violated established protocols for collecting produced water samplesbefore submitting the samples to the laboratory for testing.  Additionally, onNovember 27, 2009, Federal government inspectors observed a light, visiblesheen on the water around the EW-910 platform, resulting from ongoing platformcleaning efforts. Under the agreement, W&T Offshore will plead guilty to one felony count underthe Clean Water Act for altering monthly produced water discharge samples fromthe EW-910 platform in 2009 and to one misdemeanor count under the Clean WaterAct for negligently discharging a small amount of oil from the same platformin November 2009. The Company previously disclosed the ongoing governmentinvestigation.The plea agreement, which is subject to Federal district court approval,requires W&T Offshore to pay a $700,000 fine, make a $300,000 communityservice payment, be placed on a three-year term of probation, and implement anenvironmental compliance program subject to a third-party audit.