Criminal charges were brought against three companies allegedly responsible for a Southern California oil leak that spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean in the fall.
A federal grand jury accused the companies of negligence in connection with the disaster, alleging they failed to respond to eight alarms over more than half a day and made the problem w👍orse by continuing to pump oil, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Amplify Energy Corp and subsidiaries Beta Operating Co LLC and San Pedro Bay Pipeline Co face millions of dollars of fines and a five year probation if foꦰund guilty of negligently discharging oil, according to the Department of Justice.
The Oct. 1 spill decimated aquatic life along the shores of Huntington Beach down to Laguna Beach after a pipeline was cracked, possibly by the anchor of a cargo ship.
About 25,000 gallons of oil were discharged as undertrained and fatig﷽ue officials continued to restart and operate the pipeline for 13 hours despite being repeatedly alerted to its 16-inch crack, officials said.
Amplify, based in🍸 Houston, has been cited🍸 31 times by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement for non-compliance and resolved them, according to a spokesman for the company.
“When a line ride the morning of October 2 identified a sheen in the water, the Company immediately began to execute its federally-approved oil spill response plan,” Patrick Creighton said.
“Since the spill, the Company has worked closely with the U.S. Coast Guard and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response (CDFW-OSPR) as part of the Unified Command, and also with many other federal, state and local agencies on the remediation efforts.”
