Plains All American Pipeline has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit, and pay $230 million to fishers, fish processors, and shoreline property residents damaged by the Refugio oil spill in 2015.
On May 19, 2015, a Plains pipeline ruptured on the Gaviota Coast, spilling up to 630,000 gallons, or 15,000 barrels, of crude oil onto the shoreline and into the ocean.
“It took seven years of extensive litigation, but with the hard work of Federal District Court Judge Philip S. Gutierrez who kept tight reins on the litigation, the dedication of the plaintiffs’ team of law firms and determined mediators, a meaningful settlement was reached just short of a jury trial that was fully primed to be tried by the plaintiffs on June 2,” said A. Barry Cappello, managing partner at Cappello & Noël, and lead trial counsel for the victims of the spill.
The class members were represented by Cappello & Noël LLP, Lieff Cabraser LLP, Keller Rohrback LLP and Audet & Partners.
Plains operated 130 miles of pipeline used to transport crude oil from the Santa Barbara coast to inland refinery markets in California.
Plains was found criminally liable in 2018 for the oil spill because of failed maintenance and extensive pipeline corrosion.
Plains also previously agreed to pay $60 million in financial penalties and implement new safeguards, in a settlement reached between the company and the U.S. Justice Department.
According to the Justice Department, the discharge was caused by Plains’ failure to address external corrosion and have adequate control-room procedures in place, and was further exacerbated by Plains’ failure to respond properly.
In Santa Barbara, a Superior Court judge in 2019 ordered Plains to pay a $3.3 million criminal fine for the Refugio oil spill.
The spill devastated the fishing industry and polluted coastal properties from Santa Barbara County to Los Angeles County, according to Cappello, who litigated the 1969 Union Oil spill in Santa Barbara.
The Lieff Cabraser team primarily led the class certification effort, the Keller team focused on the fish Industry damages case, and the Cappello & Noel team focused on the expert work demonstrating the size of the spill and the extent of its impact on the fishing areas and the coastal properties.
They also led the trial preparation effort. These firms worked together on all aspects of the case assisting and supporting each other.
The matter is now before Judge Gutierrez for approval. If and when approval is obtained, class members will be notified and a court-approved plan of distribution will be created with $184 million distributed among the fisher class and $46 million distributed among the Property class, Cappello said.
The settlement resolves one of two federal class actions the plaintiffs’ lawyers brought relating to the spill. A separate suit for owners of property where the pipeline broke and where Plains is attempting to put in an entirely new pipeline is still pending in federal court.
The plaintiff law firms also filed separate lawsuits on behalf of hundreds of workers and small businesses who were damaged when the oil spill decimated the local offshore oil industry that depended on the pipeline. Those claims are being litigated in Santa Barbara County.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina, May 14, 2022
Photo: Lara Cooper / Noozhawk photo
