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FEATURE – On May 21, 2015, an oil-covered bird flutters at Refugio State Beach, north of Goleta, California. A California jury found a pipeline company guilty of nine charges for producing oil in the 2015 spill that was the state's worst coastal spill in 25 years. The jury delivered its verdict against Houston's Plains All American Pipeline on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018, after a four-month trial. The Plains jury found Plains guilty of one charge of failing to properly maintain his pipeline and eight charges of misdemeanor, including the killing of marine mammals and protected seabirds. (AP Photo / Jae C. Hong, File)
A pipeline company was convicted on Friday for nine criminal charges for causing the worst spill on the California coast in 25 years, a disaster that blackened popular beaches for miles, killed animals and hurt tourism and fishing.
A Santa Barbara County jury said that Houston-based Plains All American Pipeline had committed a crime of failing to properly maintain its pipeline and eight criminal charges, including the destruction of marine mammals and seabirds protected.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement that Plains' actions were not only reckless and irresponsible, but also criminal.
"Today's verdict should send a message: if you endanger our environment and our wildlife, we will hold you accountable," he said.
Plains said in a statement that the jury had found no fault of knowledge on the part of the company and "accepts full responsibility for the impact of the accident".
"We are committed to doing what is right," the company said.
The company stated that its pipeline operation meets or exceeds legal and industry standards, and finds that the jury erred in a verdict on a charge where California law allowed a conviction for negligence.
"We intend to assess and consider all of our legal options with respect to the trial and the resulting jury decision," Plains said.
The company should be sentenced on December 13th. Because it's a business, not a person, Plains only faces fines, but it's unclear how severe the penalties might be.
Plains had faced a total of 15 charges for breaking a corroded pipeline that had sent at least 123,000 gallons (465,000 liters) of crude oil spilling out onto Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County, northwest of Los Angeles.
Plains pleaded not guilty to charges and accused prosecutors of criminalizing an unfortunate accident.
But federal inspectors found that Plains had made several avoidable mistakes, failed to quickly detect the pipeline break and reacted too slowly when the oil was heading toward the ocean.
Plains operators working from a Texas control room to more than 1,609 kilometers had extinguished an alarm that reportedly reported a leak and, unaware that a spill had occurred, restarted the line of bleeding after stopping, which has made things worse, the inspectors found.
The spill, which occurred two weeks before Memorial Day, closed the beaches with popular campgrounds for two months and harmed the local tourism economy and the fishing industry.
It also paralyzed the local oil sector as the pipeline was used to transport crude oil to refineries from seven offshore platforms, including three owned by Exxon Mobil, which had been unused since the spill.
Last year, Venoco, based in Denver, declared bankruptcy, in part because it was not able to exploit its platform. The state is now responsible for the connection and dismantling of the Veneco wells, at an estimated cost of $ 58 million. This does not include the potential cost to remove the huge structure.
Plains is excused for the spill and paid for the cleanup. The company's 2017 annual report estimated the costs of the spill at $ 335 million, not counting the revenue losses.
It is asking for permission to repair or rebuild its corroded pipes.
The company is still facing potential fines from the US government and faces a class-action lawsuit from owners of seaside properties, fishing boat operators, the oil industry and oil workers who have lost their job because of the spill.
The spilled pipeline was closed, but Plains asked to build a new one at the same location.
Kristen Monsell, the oceans legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement that Plains could not have "a second chance to overturn".
"It is time for dangerous drilling in our oceans, off our shores and out of our state," she said.
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