Plains All American Agrees to $230 Million Oil Spill Settlement

Plains All American Pipeline LP and Plains Pipeline LP will consent to paying $230 million under a settlement reached over a 2015 oil spill in California, but the companies also told a federal judge in the state that they don’t “endorse the content” of the plaintiffs’ filing for initial approval of the agreement.

Members of the fishing industry and property owners sued after an onshore pipeline at a beach in Santa Barbara County, Calif., ruptured and sent oil into the Pacific Ocean. The group says the oil spill affected fishing blocks and coastal properties.

Plains will pay $184 million to the fishing class and $46 million to the property owner class, according to the settlement filed May 13. The settlement avoids the “inevitable” delays the classes would’ve suffered if the case went to trial and was appealed, according to the filing.

Plaintiffs argued Plains should’ve known about the pipeline’s corrosion through inspections performed in 2007 and 2012. But the company says it “acted reasonably by performing in-line inspections and the required digs and repairs.” Plains also argues the spill volume “was a fraction of what plaintiffs’ asserted,” according to the motion for preliminary settlement approval. The spill volume could’ve affected liability and limited damages for each class, the filing says.

The settlement will be distributed among the fishing class based on the share and value of fish purchased by each fish processor, the filing says. The plan for distribution for the property class will consider the value of each property, the number of days it was oiled, and the level of oiling, according to the agreement.

Class counsel will seek about $75.9 million in attorneys’ fees and no more than $6.5 million in costs, the filing says. Plaintiffs will also seek up to $15,000 for class representatives, the filing says.

Plains told the US District Court for the Central District of California May 20 that it doesn’t oppose the settlement. Judge Philip S. Gutierrez oversees the case.

Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP represents Plains. Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, Keller Rohrback LLP, and Audet & Partners LLP represent the class as class counsel. Cappello & Noël LLP represents the class as lead trial counsel.

The case is Andrews v. Plains All Am. Pipeline LP, C.D. Cal., No. 2:15-cv-04113, statement of non-opposition 5/20/22.