Photo by Joseph Gruber

Dominion Virginia Power has agreed to pay a $75,000 fine for spilling more than 13,000 gallons of mineral oil into the Potomac River last winter.

A sheen was reported on the river’s surface in February that investigators traced back to the Roaches Run Waterfowl Sanctuary, which feeds into the Potomac. A rescue group pulled out 60 birds, largely Canada geese, to clean the oil off their feathers and rehabilitate them; 29 didn’t survive.

About a week later, Dominion accepted responsibility for the spill, saying it came from its Crystal City substation.

D.C.’s Department of Energy and Environment announced today that the power company has been ordered to pay a civil penalty of $25,000 and an additional $50,000 to the agency to fund a stream survey and registry.

Virginia’s environmental agency has proposed a combined $260,000 fine for the Crystal City incident and a second mineral oil spill in Augusta County around the same time.