Two pipeline companies have agreed to pay a $2.57 million penalty for a January 2005 oil leak that dumped more than 260,000 gallons of crude oil into the Kentucky and Ohio rivers.

The federal government announced the settlement Aug. 15 with Mid-Valley Pipeline Co., the pipeline owner, and pipeline operator Sunoco Pipeline L.P. Both companies are affiliates of Sunoco Logistics, of Philadelphia.

The spill affected a 16-mile stretch of the Kentucky River, eventually entering the Ohio River. The spill resulted from a girth weld failure in a 22-inch diameter pipe that had been laid in 1950 and harmed hundreds of migratory water fowl, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The agreement, formalized in a consent decree filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, settles claims the companies violated the Clean Water Act and Kentucky environmental laws.

Mid-Valley and SPLP will pay $1.4 million to the United States and $1.17 million to Kentucky in penalties for the spill. In addition, Mid-Valley and SPLP will perform measures to enhance future spill responses and preparation, and will reimburse Kentucky for response costs of more than $120,000. They have already reimbursed the federal government for $234,000 in response costs.

In addition, the two companies will donate $230,000 to a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the environment of Kentucky.

The penalties and reimbursements are in addition to the $9.5 million the defendants spent cleaning up the oil spill.

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