Pipeline company to pay $230 million for oil spill
Plains All American Pipeline reached a $230 million settlement with California fishers and coastal property owners last week, agreeing to compensate them for damages caused by a devastating oil spill at Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County in 2015.
The oil spill — the state’s worst since the Union Oil blowout of 1969 — contaminated the Southern California coastline with more than 123,000 gallons of crude oil, some of it reaching beaches as far as 100 miles away. Oil from the spill killed countless birds, mammals, and fish, causing millions of dollars of damage to their habitats and to the industries that they sustain.
According to the Justice Department, the spill was caused by a corroding pipe and Plains All American Pipeline’s “failure to respond properly” once the spill began. To discharge allegations that it had violated federal safety laws, the company settled with the Justice Department for $60 million in 2020, agreeing to pay for cleanup costs, damages to local ecosystems, and penalties. The new settlement goes further, pledging $184 million to fishers to make up for the amount of revenue they lost as a result of the spill. The remaining $46 million will be allocated to more than 3,000 beachside property owners.
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#Air Pollution
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#Environmental
#Government Policies
#Health
#Investment
#Oil
#Water Pollution
Atlantis Viewpoint
This oil spill contaminated the Southern California coastline with more than 123,000 gallons of crude oil, reaching beaches as far as 100 miles away, killing countless birds, mammals, and fish, and causing millions of dollars of damage to their habitats and industries. To avoid allegations that it had violated federal safety laws, the company settled with the Justice Department for $60 million in 2020, agreeing to pay for clean-up costs, damages to local ecosystems, and penalties. Now, the new settlement goes further, pledging that the company pay €230 million; $184 million to fishers to make up for the amount of revenue they lost as a result of the spill. The remaining $46 million will be allocated to more than 3,000 beach-side property owners.
We will have to wait to find out how this story ends, however, we should not wait a single minute for another disaster like this to happen again. True Clean Energy can safely create energy and improve millions of lives by not producing toxic fumes or GHG emissions. In addition, Clean Energy systems could never ruin the seas and ecosystems of the world as we’ve seen happen multiple times with fossil fuels. This is yet another reason to switch to a cleaner and safer world.
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