Plains All American Pipeline and one of its employees have been indicted by a grand jury on criminal charges stemming from an oil spill near Santa Barbara in May 2015. Via the Wall Street Journal, the charges against Plains included four felonies related to the release of hazardous materials into state waters and misdemeanors regarding the way the spill was reported. The company could face as much as $2.8 million in fines.
An employee was indicted on three criminal charges for failure to report the spill in a timely manner.
Plains said in a statement it believes the criminal charges are “unwarranted.”
Approximately 3,000 barrels of oil were released when a Plains-owned pipeline burst near Santa Barbara. The spill fouled a popular beach and created an oil slick in the Pacific Ocean. The pipeline that burst was later found to have been corroded.
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