Plains All American Responds to Charges Filed Related to 2015 Accidental Release
May 17 2016 - 10:35AM
Business Wire
Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE: PAA) and one of its
employees were indicted by a California state grand jury for
alleged violations of California law in connection with the May 19,
2015 accidental oil release near Santa Barbara. Plains noted that
the indictment included a total of 46 counts, 10 of which relate to
the release of crude oil or reporting of the release and 36 of
which relate to wildlife alleged to have been taken as a result of
the accidental release. Plains is deeply disappointed by the
decision of the California Attorney General and Santa Barbara
District Attorney to pursue criminal charges against Plains and one
of its employees in connection with the 2015 accident. Plains
believes that neither the company nor any of its employees engaged
in any criminal behavior at any time in connection with this
accident, and that criminal charges are unwarranted. We will
vigorously defend ourselves against these charges and are confident
we will demonstrate that the charges have no merit and represent an
inappropriate attempt to criminalize an unfortunate accident.
Plains sincerely regrets the accidental Line 901 release and the
resulting impact on the community, the environment and wildlife.
Since the release, we have worked tirelessly and relentlessly to do
the right thing and do it as quickly and effectively as possible by
cleaning up the beaches and other affected areas, compensating
those who were impacted by the release and working with the various
governmental and other organizations responding to the
incident.
Since the Line 901 release, Plains has worked cooperatively with
the U.S. Coast Guard, California Department of Fish & Wildlife,
other members of the Unified Command, first responders and numerous
local, state and federal stakeholders to make good on our
commitment to do the right thing. In the process, Plains has:
- Worked cooperatively and effectively
with the Unified Command and others to successfully remove and
remediate released oil from the affected water, soil and shoreline,
restoring the impacted beaches and achieving Unified Command
sign-off regarding the completion of active clean-up efforts by
August 31, 2015, 105 days following the accident, and satisfaction
of all shoreline and beach clean-up goals by January 22, 2016.
- Worked diligently to achieve the
re-opening of El Capitan State Beach on June 26, 2015, and Refugio
State Beach on July 17, 2015.
- Cooperated fully with the applicable
trustees in the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process to
assist in quantifying injuries to natural resources and associated
public uses resulting from the accident and identifying possible
restoration projects.
- Cooperated fully with all governmental
regulators and agencies investigating the accident, including the
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA),
U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
California State Attorney General and Santa Barbara County District
Attorney.
- Directly or indirectly expended more
than $150 million on the response effort, cleanup and related
matters.
Plains remains committed to mitigating the impact of the Line
901 accident, taking appropriate and prudent steps to prevent
future incidents, and working with the Unified Command, members of
the community and other stakeholders to meet our commitments
stemming from the accident. We also intend to share key findings
from this accident with other pipeline operators to improve
practices industry-wide and help prevent similar incidents in the
future.
Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. is a publicly traded master
limited partnership that owns and operates midstream energy
infrastructure and provides logistics services for crude oil,
natural gas liquids ("NGL"), natural gas and refined products. PAA
owns an extensive network of pipeline transportation, terminalling,
storage and gathering assets in key crude oil and NGL producing
basins and transportation corridors and at major market hubs in the
United States and Canada. On average, PAA handles over 4.6 million
barrels per day of crude oil and NGL in its Transportation segment.
PAA is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160517006161/en/
Plains All American Pipeline, L.P.Media RelationsBrad Leone,
(866) 809-1290
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