Indictment says company ignored California oil spill alarms
By BRIAN MELLEY and MATTHEW BROWN
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A pipeline operator has been indicted for a leak that spilled up to 25,000 gallons of crude oil off the Southern California coast. On Wednesday, a federal grand jury charged Houston-based Amplify Energy Corp. and two subsidiaries with a misdemeanor for discharging oil off of Huntington Beach. Prosecutors say tired and insufficiently trained workers ignored eight leak alarms. Amplify says workers responded to what they believed were false alarms because the system wasn’t functioning properly. The spill forced beach closures and a fishing ban. If convicted, the companies could face millions of dollars in fines.
