SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) 鈥� Shipping companies will pay nearly $97 million to settle a lawsuit with a pipeline operator over a off the coast of Southern California, the pipeline company said Wednesday.
Amplify Energy, the Houston-based company that operates the pipeline, said in a that companies associated with the M/V Danit and M/V Beijing agreed to the payments. Amplify accused the vessels of in the waters off California and striking the pipeline during a January 2021 storm, which months later led to the spill of 25,000 gallons (94,600 liters) of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean.
Once the payments are made, Amplify said it would drop its claims against the shipping companies.
鈥淭he resolution of Amplify鈥檚 claims against the vessels and their affiliated entities concludes our involvement in the litigation related to the 2021 pipeline incident," Martyn Willsher, Amplify鈥檚 president and chief executive, said in the statement.
Messages seeking comment were sent to lawyers for the shipping companies.
While less severe than initially feared, the oil spill sent blobs of crude washing ashore, shuttered beaches for a week and fisheries for more than a month, oiled birds and threatened area wetlands.
Southern California fishermen, tourism companies and property owners sued Amplify and the shipping vessels seeking compensation for their losses. Amplify $50 million and the vessels $45 million to settle those lawsuits.
Amplify, which reached a plea deal with federal authorities for negligently discharging crude, sued the vessels and the Marine Exchange, an organization that helps oversee marine traffic.
The Marine Exchange has also agreed to a non-monetary settlement with Amplify, the statement said. No details of this settlement were immediately released.
The Associated Press
