Plains All American Oil Spill Class Action Settled For $230M

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Plains All American Oil Spill Class Action Settlement Overview:

• Who: Plains All American Pipeline has agreed to pay $230 million to resolve a class action lawsuit brought by members of the local Santa Barbara fishing community and local property owners
• Why: The plaintiffs claimed a May 2015 pipeline oil spill impacted the environment and property values
• Where: California federal court

Seven years after an oil spill dumped thousands of gallons of crude oil in Santa Barbara County, California — killing marine life and disrupting local business — Plains All American Pipeline has agreed to pay a $230 million settlement to the local fishing community and property owners.

Plains All American Pipeline and lead plaintiff Keith Andrews filed a notice of the settlement May 13 in a California federal court. 

Plains has agreed to pay $184 million to members of the Fisherpeople Class — a class of fishers and fish processors impacted by Plains’ spill — and $46 million to the Property Class, a class of people whose coastal properties were impacted. The deal is subject to court approval. 

Thousands of Gallons of Crude Spilled

The May 19, 2015, oil spill happened after a severely corroded underground oil pipeline owned and operated by Plains failed near Refugio State Beach.

The failures send thousands of gallons of crude oil flowing into one of the most biologically diverse areas of the West Coast, killing marine life, fouling coastline and disrupting local industry, lawyers for the plaintiffs said in a press release.

The case was resolved just a few weeks before the anticipated June 2022 trial. 

“This settlement should serve as a reminder that pollution just can’t be a cost of doing business, and that corporations will be held accountable for environmental damage they cause,” said Matthew Preusch, a partner at law firm Keller Rohrback. 

Plaintiff Alexandra B. Geremia was one of those who sued Plains All American Pipeline LP in 2015, alleging the company neglected to install an automatic shutoff valve along the ruptured oil line; this allowed about 100,000 gallons of crude oil to spill into the surrounding land.

The Santa Barbara land owner claimed her beachfront property was ruined and the value of her home decreased by the Santa Barbara County pipeline spill.

What do you think about the value of this settlement? Let us know in the comments. 

The plaintiffs were represented by Keller Rohrback LLP, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP and Cappello & Noël LLP.

The Plains All American Pipeline Class Action Lawsuit is Andrews et al. v. Plains All American Pipeline LP, et al., Case No. 2:15-cv-04113-PSG-JEM, in the U.S. District Court Central District of California.

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