WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th March, 2020) A civil settlement with a pipeline firm that leaked nearly 3,000 barrels of crude oil on California beaches charges the company $60 million for cleanup costs, penalties and safety upgrades, the Justice Department said in a press release on Friday.
"The settlement requires Plains [All American Pipeline] to implement injunctive relief to improve Plains' nationwide pipeline system and bring it into compliance with the Federal pipeline safety laws, in addition to addressing unique threats and modifying operations that caused the Line 901 oil spill; pay $24 million in penalties; pay $22.325 million in natural resource damages, and $10 million for reimbursed natural resource damage assessment costs; and pay $4.26 million for reimbursed Coast Guard clean-up costs," the release said.
Excluding the value of the required injunctive relief changes to Plains' national operations, the settlement in conjunction with reimbursed costs is valued in excess of $60 million, the release said.
The May 2015, Refugio oil spill dumped 2,934 barrels of crude on one of the most diverse marine and coastal habitats, including open ocean, rocky shores, sandy beaches and kelp forests that support large numbers of fish, marine mammals and seabirds, according to the release.
