Calif. Woman Files Oil Spill Class Action Against Plains All American

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

On June 23, an oil spill class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court by a Santa Barbara land owner who claims her beachfront property was ruined and the value of her home decreased by the Santa Barbara County pipeline spill that occurred in May of this year.

Plaintiff Alexandra B. Geremia is suing Plains All American Pipeline LP in this oil spill class action lawsuit, alleging the company neglected to install an automatic shutoff valve along the ruptured oil line, which allowed about 100,000 gallons of crude oil to spill into the surrounding land.

In her Plains All American Pipeline oil spill class action lawsuit, Geremia claims:

“Before defendants’ oil spill, Ms. Geremia was able to enjoy the pristine natural environment in the area of her home, and the value of her home reflected its shoreline location, direct access to the ocean, the waves lapping at the shore and clean air brought by ocean breezes. Since the spill, her property has been bombarded with a steady stream of oil tarballs and oil sheen from the spill, and she has been unable to even walk on the beach.”

The plaintiff further claims that the cleanup efforts in the Refugio State Beach area, where her home is located, have been inadequate, meaning that long-term contamination of her home property is fairly likely.

In her oil spill class action lawsuit, Geremia states she is seeking to represent herself as well as a Class defined as: “All owners of oceanfront and/or beachfront real property and long-term lessees of oceanfront and/or beachfront real property on the Pacific Coast of California, from Point Concepcion to the southern border of San Diego County, who claim injury or damage to real property as a result of Defendants’ May 19, 2015 oil spill from Line 901.”

This is just one of many Plains All American Pipeline oil spill class action lawsuits filed against the company since the May 19 oil spill. These class action lawsuits similarly allege that the 24-inch pipeline known as Line 901, which runs from Las Flores Canyon to Gaviota, is the only oil pipeline in the county that does not feature an automatic shutoff valve. Plaintiffs claim that had a shutoff valve been installed, then the oil spill could have been diminished.

According to Rick McMichael, Plains All American Pipeline senior director of operations, Plains did not feel back in May 2014 that it would be necessary to install an automatic shutoff valve, as it might not be safe when the valve is used to stop incompressible fluids.

Additionally, U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration conducted a study of the Plains All American Pipeline and their preliminary findings showed that Line 901 had areas suffering from extensive external corrosion. However, the agency has not found the exact cause of the corrosion. A more in-depth investigation by the PHMSA into the oil spill is currently in progress.

Geremia is represented by A. Barry Cappello, Leila J. Noel and Lawrence J. Conlan of Cappello & Noel LLP.

The Plains All American Pipeline Oil Spill Class Action Lawsuit is Geremia v. Plains All American Pipeline LP, et al., Case No. 2:15-cv-04759, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.