Officials to Seek Public’s Views on Compensation for Oil Spill

State and federal officials are planning to ask the public how Orange County’s coastal community should be compensated for the damage and disruption it suffered in February’s Huntington Beach oil spill.

They have scheduled a public hearing in Huntington Beach on Sept. 13 as a step toward a lawsuit that is expected to be filed on behalf of the public against the companies responsible for the Feb. 7 tanker accident that fouled 15 miles of Orange County’s shoreline.

“We want people’s ideas and input about what they think are appropriate restoration and compensation,” said Deputy Atty. Gen. Sylvia Cano Hale. “Then we will evaluate them and see if they are feasible from an economic standpoint.”

The attorney general’s office is expected to file suit against the responsible companies seeking civil fines and compensation for damage to natural resources and the death of birds and marine animals as well as the disruption caused by the closure of county beaches, some for as long as five weeks.

Cano Hale said the public hearing is only to determine how the community can be compensated for its troubles, not to assess blame for the accident.

State officials said the recommendations from the public could include such ideas as seeking funds for long-term biological studies, restoring damaged resources or buying property that can be conserved.

The attorney general’s office is working with city, county and federal attorneys in preparing the suit.

The public meeting is jointly sponsored by federal and state agencies involved in protecting resources and preventing oil spills, including the state Department of Fish and Game, the State Lands Commission and the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

The hearing will convene from 1:30 to 5 p.m. and again from 7 to 10 p.m. in council chambers at Huntington Beach City Hall.

The lawsuit is expected to seek millions of dollars and target British Petroleum, the Cleveland-based company that owned the crude oil. It also could name American Trading Transportation Co., the New York company that owns the ship involved and employs its crew, and Golden West Refining Co., which operates the mooring where the American Trader struck bottom and was gashed by its own anchor.

The mishap occurred as the ship was preparing to unload its oil into a pipeline that serves Golden West’s refinery in Santa Fe Springs.

Coast Guard officials said it was caused by a freakish combination of forces, including low tide, rolling and pitching of the ship, and sand drifting that made the area more shallow than the crew thought.

At the very least, the companies involved could face civil charges that they violated the California water code--charges that would carry a maximum fine of $20 per gallon spilled, or about $8 million in the American Trader case, according to officials from the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, which enforces state water-pollution laws.

But the attorney general’s office also hopes to seek reimbursement for immediate and long-term damages to the ecosystem and public resources.

In addition to the beach closures, about 700 birds were killed and thousands of grunion died as they attempted to spawn in the oily sand.

Lawyers for the shipping company have already filed papers in federal court trying to limit its liability to $8 million, the value of the American Trader tanker.

The attorney general’s office, however, has filed a counterclaim saying that federal law allows the company to be held liable for the full damages.

The state could be months away from filing suit or reaching a settlement.

Cano Hale said a case against Shell Oil for a major 1988 oil spill in San Francisco Bay took 18 months to resolve.

Shell eventually paid a $19.7-million settlement for the refinery spill, which damaged 150 acres of sensitive wetlands and disrupted commercial and recreational fishing.

It was the largest oil spill settlement in the nation.