A Houston-based pipeline firm has been found guilty of criminal charges that it knowingly caused or should have known it was causing a catastrophic oil spill off Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County in 2015, killing marine mammals and sea life.
After a four-month trial, a jury Friday found Plains All American Pipeline guilty of one felony count of causing the spill by failing to properly maintain its highly pressurized pipeline. The firm also was found guilty of eight misdemeanor counts including failing to report the spill immediately, illegally discharging crude oil and killing marine mammals, protected sea birds and other sea life.
“Engaging in this kind of reckless conduct is not just irresponsible — it’s criminal,” state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “Today’s verdict should send a message: If you endanger our environment and wildlife, we will hold you accountable.”
In a statement, Plains said it “continues to accept full responsibility for the impact of the accident” but believed the jury erred in returning the guilty verdict on the felony count.
Read the full story on LATimes.com.
Correction: An earlier version of this Los Angeles Times story contained multiple errors that have now been corrected, including some in the first four paragraphs above, and others in the remainder of the article found on LATimes.com. The story said that a jury had found Plains All American Pipeline guilty of criminal charges for knowingly causing the 2015 oil spill off Refugio State Beach; the jury actually ruled that the company had knowingly caused or “should have known” that it caused the spill. The article also incorrectly stated that the jury found the firm guilty of knowingly filing a false or misleading report to the state.
