HUNTINGTON BEACH : City to Bill $26,000 More for Oil Spill

The city plans to bill American Trading Transportation Co. for $26,000 for parking revenues lost when the company’s oil tanker spilled 394,000 gallons of oil offshore on Feb. 7, officials said Thursday.

The new claim will be in addition to the $528,000 bill the city sent last month to American Trading for emergency response and cleanup costs, said Dan Villella, the city’s finance director.

The latest bill, which probably will be sent to the firm early next week, estimates what the city lost in parking lot and meter fees because the beaches were closed during the spill cleanup, Villella said.

Lost parking revenues were not included in the city’s original claim on the firm, because the City Council had authorized billing only for personnel and equipment costs directly related to the cleanup.

Meanwhile, city officials continue weighing whether to join with state and federal agencies in a suit against American Trading for “special damages,” such as damage to the environment and wildlife, City Atty. Gail C. Hutton said.

Hutton and other city officials met with state attorney general representatives on Wednesday to discuss a possible joint suit, and a proposal may be ready for City Council approval by its June 4 meeting, she said.

Preparing the suit has been a slow, painstaking process, Hutton said, because it would likely involve different concerns of many government agencies, including the State Lands Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Justice, the state attorney general and the city.

“They all have their individual statutes, and we have to work with each of them,” Hutton said. “Plus, we have our own (concerns). That’s been a real problem to coordinate all of these interests.”

Villella said the city is also considering asking the company to pay for some potentially controversial charges, such as lost police revenues from parking citations and a decrease in the amount of taxes collected from properties whose values may have been lowered because of the spill.

The city has been hesitant to pursue such costs because of political concerns, Villella said. Seeking money for not being able to write citations, for example, “might not be good for publicity,” he said. “But these are not dead issues.”