The Houston based oil company plead guilty to misdemeanor charges in a
plea deal with the federal government in which it agrees to pay a $7 million fine and nearly $6 million in clean-up costs, after its pipeline ruptured off the Orange County, CA coastline last year.
{04.10.2021} The spill of 25,000 gallons of oil shut down beaches, including famed surf site, Huntington Beach, and closed the fishing industry for more than a month. Pollution threatened a coastal wetland and oiled seabirds.
[photo credit: AP]The company claims its pipeline was ruptured by two ships dragging their anchors after a January 2021 storm, but was not notified until after the damage occurred. It agreed to install a new leak detection system and train employees to respond to leak alarms. Federal prosecutors said the company failed to respond to eight leak alarms over a 13 hour period. Conservationists argued the pipeline should be shutdown.
