More than three years later, the city of Huntington Beach is receiving justice for a massive oil spill.
In October 2021, an offshore rig operated by Houston-based Amplify Energy Corp. leaked around 25,000 gallons of crude oil into the water with devastating results for local marine life.
What's happening?
The LA Times reported on the $5.25 million settlement that was announced by mayor Gracey Van Der Mark.
"It is great news for the city that we can now move forward and put these conflicts to rest," Van Der Mark said of the settlement.
The $5.25 million payment joins a $50 million settlement paid to local residents and businesses affected by the spill, and a $45 million payment from shipping companies alleged to have damaged the pipeline.
The announcement was not without divisiveness. A group of three minority council members tried to voice differing opinions of the settlement at the microphone, which was then cut off, per the LA Times.
Those council members questioned its delayed timing and linked that to upcoming elections.
Why is holding companies accountable important?
Simply put, it's hard to put an appropriate price on the carnage to local marine life of a spill of such magnitude. Contemporaneous reports indicate scores of birds and fish were washing upshore before the spill could be contained.
The impact hit local businesses and residents hard as well, closing numerous beaches and harbors and deterring tourism and fishing. The city controversially also decided to compensate Pacific Airshow with a $5 million payout of its own for the last-minute cancellation of the 2021 edition due to the oil spill.
That explains some of the beef between council members, with them and many others thinking the city got a raw deal from the settlements.
While it's great to see Amplify have to pay up when it comes to the city of Huntington Beach, it is a legitimate gripe that it took over three years to happen.
What's being done about oil spills like in Huntington Beach?
The Huntington Beach spill was thoroughly investigated by the FBI with the help of federal bodies who were initially at the scene.
The FBI worked with organizations like the Coast Guard and Environmental Protection Agency to assign blame and levy penalties to the tune of $210 million, separate from the totals going to Huntington Beach city and its residents.
The National Transportation Safety Board similarly issued a series of recommendations while determining those at fault.
These major cash deterrents to oil and shipping companies hopefully can entice them to follow their own protocols and prevent future environmental disasters.
Unfortunately, you only have to go back to March of this year when a much smaller oil leak in the Huntington Beach area was investigated by the Coast Guard.
When oil spills do occur, countries like Singapore are trying to optimize oil abatement strategies, and in the U.S., agencies like NOAA work to recover crude oil as quickly as possible.
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