LOS ANGELES (KNX) — A federal grand jury leveled charges Wednesday against three companies it believes were negligent in the oil spill off the Orange County coastline in early October.
The jury accused the companies of negligence, including failing to adequately respond to eight separate alarms warning of leaks for more than 13 hours, the Justice Department said.
The indictment filed Wednesday afternoon charged each of the organizations that own and operate the San Pedro Bay Pipeline with misdemeanor negligent discharge of oil. The three defendants named Amplify Energy Corporation, Beta Operating Co. LLC (an Amplify subsidiary doing business as Beta Offshore), and San Pedro Bay Pipeline Co. (another Amplify subsidiary).
The 17-mile-long pipe transports crude oil from offshore facilities to a processing plant in Long Beach.
Prosecutors allege the leak began the afternoon of Oct. 1 but contend the defendants ignored warnings and continued to operate the defective, leaking pipeline until the next day. That negligence, DOJ said, allowed 25,000 gallons of oil to infiltrate the Pacific, washing ashore on Southern California beaches and severely damaging the ecosystem for wildlife and humans. The discharge occurred roughly 5 miles off the coast of Huntington Beach.
The Department of Justice alleges the companies ignored eight automated leak detection alarms that began ringing at 4:10 p.m., cycling the system by shutting it down and restarting it at least five times. In addition, the indictment said crew members had not been adequately trained to detect and respond to oil leaks and accused the company of being understaffed and forcing its employees to work while highly fatigued.
Because the defendants are corporations, the negligence charge carries a maximum penalty of five years of probation and millions of dollars in fines.
The U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, and FBI coordinated the continued investigation of the oil leak.
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