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
From Tokyo Gas to Chesapeake: The Slow-burning Fuse that Lit Haynesville M&A
2024-03-01 - TG Natural Resources rides the LNG wave with Rockcliff deal amid shale consolidation boom.
Exclusive: Is TG Natural Resources Looking to Snap Up More?
2024-03-27 - At Hart Energy's DUG Gas+ Conference and Expo in Shreveport, Louisiana, TG Natural Resources' President and CEO Craig Jarchow said the integration of the Rockcliff Energy acquisition is well underway and that "being acquisitive is certainly" in the company's future.
An Untapped Haynesville Block: Chevron Asset Attracts High Interest
2024-04-03 - Chevron’s 72,000-net-acre property in Panola County, Texas is lightly developed for the underlying Haynesville formation — and the supermajor may cut it loose.
Exclusive: Frank Tsuru Reflects on Indigo's History, Impact in the Haynesville
2024-04-11 - Frank Tsuru, president and CEO of Momentum Midstream and former CEO of Indigo Natural Resources, looks back at the early stages of Haynesville development and the Indigo-Southwestern deal, in this Hart Energy Exclusive interview.
Aethon Cuts Rigs but Wants More Western Haynesville Acreage
2024-03-31 - Private gas E&P Aethon Energy has drilled some screamers in its far western Haynesville Shale play—and the company wants to do more in the area.