Three Houston companies are among the defendants named in a motion filed in a Colorado district court relating to work on an oil and gas pipeline.  Colorado Attorney General John Suthers on April 15 filed a motion asking the Garfield County District Court to halt construction work on the pipeline, located on the Roan Plateau in Western Colorado, because soil erosion is causing sediment-laden water to wash into a creek, endangering the fish.

Houston companies Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO), Enterprise Products Partners LP (NYSE: EPD) and Enterprise Transportation Co., along with Bakersfield, Calif.-based Berry Petroleum Co. (NYSE: BRY), are named in the motion.  Suthers is seeking a temporary restraining order and injunction against the companies for failing to control construction runoff in waterways near Parachute on the Western Slope.  If granted, the motion would also require the companies to control sediment runoff from an ancillary access road.  Although Marathon and Berry have stormwater permits covering the site, none of the companies has implemented the necessary "Best Management Practices" to control and minimize sediment runoff, the state claims.

A hearing on the motion is scheduled for April 23.