California officials on Sept. 8 said Amplify Energy Corp. agreed to plead no contest to six criminal charges and pay nearly $5 million in penalties and fines in connection with a crude oil spill last year that killed birds and fouled beaches.
The announcement was the latest legal effort to hold the Texas-based oil company accountable for a subsea pipeline leak that released some 558 bbl (25,000 gallons) of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Huntington Beach in southern California in October of last year.
RELATED:
Amplify Energy to Pay $13 Million to Settle Charges over California Oil Spill
At a news conference broadcast live on the internet, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said the company had repeatedly turned off and on the 17-mile-long pipeline when it was alerted to the leak.
"Amplify unequivocally hit the snooze button," Spitzer said. "Over and over they kept ignoring it. That is criminal. And that is why they have been charged."
Months before the spill, high winds caused two ships to drag their anchors across the sea floor, bending and moving the pipeline and eventually causing its cement casing to crack, the state said.
As part of the agreement, Amplify will plead no contest to charges for failing to report an oil spill into state waters, polluting water and killing protected wildlife.
It will pay $3.45 million to the state and $1.45 million to Orange County.
Amplify Chief Executive Martyn Willsher said in a statement that the company was committed to operating safely.
"This resolution with the State of California, which follows Amplify’s plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office, further reflects the commitments we made immediately following the incident to the communities and environment impacted by the release," he said.
The plea agreement also requires the company to train employees on oil spill notification, install an improved leak detection system and conduct biannual visual inspections of its pipeline.
Last month, Amplify agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal negligence charges and pay nearly $13 million for the spill.
Recommended Reading
Defeating the ‘Four Horsemen’ of Flow Assurance
2024-04-18 - Service companies combine processes and techniques to mitigate the impact of paraffin, asphaltenes, hydrates and scale on production—and keep the cash flowing.
Tech Trends: AI Increasing Data Center Demand for Energy
2024-04-16 - In this month’s Tech Trends, new technologies equipped with artificial intelligence take the forefront, as they assist with safety and seismic fault detection. Also, independent contractor Stena Drilling begins upgrades for their Evolution drillship.
AVEVA: Immersive Tech, Augmented Reality and What’s New in the Cloud
2024-04-15 - Rob McGreevy, AVEVA’s chief product officer, talks about technology advancements that give employees on the job training without any of the risks.
Lift-off: How AI is Boosting Field and Employee Productivity
2024-04-12 - From data extraction to well optimization, the oil and gas industry embraces AI.
AI Poised to Break Out of its Oilfield Niche
2024-04-11 - At the AI in Oil & Gas Conference in Houston, experts talked up the benefits artificial intelligence can provide to the downstream, midstream and upstream sectors, while assuring the audience humans will still run the show.