Oil company could face legal problems after Santa Barbara spill

Legal action is expected after the Refugio State Beach oil spill. The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office and local environmental groups both asking for specific details as soon as possible.

It depends on what really happened before legal action will be taken. If it was a criminal act, there are strict laws to deal with that. If it was accidental there are other penalties and fines that can be levied as we have seen in similar or larger oil disasters

The Santa Barbara Channelkeeper Organization has also been taking specific near shore ocean water samples in the last two days. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has arrived to join the local district attorney investigators on possible criminal and civil charges.

“Because we know from other water keepers experiences with other oil spills that what they tell you the volume and the slick isn’t always the case,” channel keeper Kira Redmond said.

“And I watched a pelican that could not get off the sand. It was heartbreaking. There are animals that have suffered and there are animals that will suffer. There is the environment, the air pollution, the water all of that and we in Santa Barbara take all of that very seriously and very personally,” Santa Barbara Co. District Attorney Joyce Dudley said.

It’s still uncertain how long the impacts will be detected on and off shore. The request for information and the expected legal action is not coming as a surprise for the Plains All American Pipeline LP which has had $23 million dollars in penalties since 2006 throughout the country on its system of 18,000 miles of pipelines.