SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A pipeline operator has agreed to pay $50 million to 1000’s of Southern California fishermen, tourism firms and property owners who sued after an offshore oil spill last 12 months near Huntington Beach.
A proposed settlement between Amplify Energy Corp., which owns the pipeline that ruptured, and the companies and residents was filed Monday in federal court in Santa Ana, court documents show.
Under the proposal, the Houston-based energy company would pay $34 million to business fishermen and $9 million to coastal property owners. It also would pay $7 million to waterfront tourism operators, including businesses that provide surf lessons and leisure cruises and shops that sell swimwear and fishing bait.
A federal judge still must log out on the proposal for it to take effect. A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 16.
“This can be a really dramatic first step and a dramatic compensation for these victims of this terrible tragedy,” said Wylie Aitken, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs, whom he estimated number greater than 10,000. “Though it will not be 100% it is vitally substantial and really helpful and deal of compensation to them. We’ll proceed to attempt to get every last penny that they deserve.”
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A message searching for comment was sent Tuesday to Amplify.
The agreement, which was initially reached in August, requires Amplify to put in a leak detection system and supply spill training to employees, steps that the corporate also agreed to in a plea take care of federal authorities. It also would require Amplify to extend staffing on an offshore oil platform, court papers show.
The October 2021 pipeline leak spilled about 25,000 gallons (94,600 liters) of oil into the Pacific Ocean. While less severe than initially feared, the spill shuttered beaches in surf-friendly Huntington Beach and nearby communities for per week and fisheries for greater than a month and oiled birds and threatened area wetlands.
Earlier this 12 months, Amplify reached a plea take care of federal authorities for negligently discharging crude off the coast. The corporate, which authorities said failed to reply to leak detection system alarms that ought to have alerted staff to the spill, also agreed to pay a combined $13 million in fines and expenses incurred by agencies reminiscent of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Amplify contends that two business shipping vessels damaged its pipeline once they dragged their anchors across it during a January 2021 storm. The proposed settlement doesn’t apply to the operators of those ships or to a company that helps oversee marine traffic, which has also been brought into the litigation.
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