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:
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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.
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Worked diligently to achieve the re-opening of El Capitan State Beach
on June 26, 2015, and Refugio State Beach on July 17, 2015.
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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.
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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.
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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.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160517006161/en/
Plains All American Pipeline, L.P.
Media Relations
Brad Leone,
(866) 809-1290
