ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. (KNX) — A Texas-based oil company and two subsidiaries will pay $13 million in federal fines and costs for last year's oil leak from the San Pedro Bay Pipeline off the coast of Southern California, the Justice Department announced Friday.
Amplify Energy Corp., Beta Operating Co. LLC, and San Pedro Bay Pipeline Co. — both wholly-owned subsidiaries of Amplify — agreed to plead guilty to violating the federal Clean Water Act. The plea stems from the pipeline leak that spilled about 25,000 gallons of crude oil into the waters from Huntington Beach to Newport Beach last October. As part of the plea deal, the companies agreed to pay a $7.1 million criminal fine and $5.8 million for cleanup.
"This oil spill affected numerous people, businesses, and organizations who use the Southern California coastal waters," U.S. Attorney Stephanie Christen said in a statement. "The companies involved are now accepting their responsibility for criminal conduct and are required to make significant improvements that will help prevent future oil spills."
Each company agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of negligently discharging oil into San Pedro Bay during the oil spill. The binding plea agreements require that U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, the judge presiding over the case, accept all aspects of the plea agreements. The case would proceed to trial if the court decided not to take the deal.
Amplify and its subsidiaries also agreed to probation for four years. During that probation, they agreed to reimburse governmental agencies that responded to the spill, including the U.S. Coast Guard and the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, an amount currently estimated to be $5.8 million. The companies must also improve training for all employees and managers in identifying and responding to potential pipeline leaks, install a new leak detection system for that pipeline, and require notification to regulators of all leak detection alarms. Additionally, they must contract with an oil spill response organization with the capability to detect oil on the surface of water at night or in low-light conditions, conduct underwater visual inspections of the pipeline semiannually, and invest at least $250,000 to modify pipeline-related procedures.
"The expected guilty pleas serve as a compelling reminder that pipeline operators are responsible for exercising the highest levels of accountability for their operations given the potential for devastating consequences when they fail to do so," said Cissy Tubbs, Western Region special agent in charge of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General.
A sheen in the water was first reported at about 8:20 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1, 2021. A low-pressure alarm went off at about 2:30 p.m. on the Elly rig about 4 miles off the coast of Huntington Beach. Still, workers did not shut off the pipeline until about 6 a.m., more than three hours later, according to a document from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The resulting spill shut down harbors up and down the Orange County coast, killed dozens of seabirds who became coated in crude oil, devastated businesses still struggling to recover from the pandemic shutdowns, and endangered sensitive ecological reserves and wetlands.
Investigators found a section of the pipeline damaged after being dragged more than 100 feet, possibly by the anchor of a cargo ship.
Amplify Energy said it would continue to pursue claims for damages against the ships that struck the pipeline and the Marine Exchange of Southern California for failing to notify them of the anchor strikes.
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