The State - News from Nov. 6, 1986

A farm worker who pleaded guilty to shooting a hole in an oil pipeline and polluting the Kings River was fined $319,000 and ordered to work for 2,000 hours in ecology-related community service. Joel Tapia Sanchez, 24, was sentenced in Kings County Superior Court in Hanford, where the judge placed him on five years’ probation, told him not to touch firearms and credited him with 136 days in jail. The judge noted that Sanchez probably would not be able to pay the entire fine within the five years but said that as long as Sanchez made a “good effort” to pay as much as he could afford toward the damages, he would not violate his probation, according to his attorney, Tom DeSantos. The oil from the gunshot hole in Beacon Oil Co.’s pipeline fouled the Kings River July 31. Between 2,000 and 3,000 barrels of oil spilled into the river.