State, Cities Seek Millions From 3 Firms in Orange County Coast Oil Spill : Environment: Atty. Gen. Van de Kamp files suit on last day in office. Two of the companies say they will consider settlement negotiations.

State and local prosecutors are seeking millions of dollars in damages and fines from BP America and two other companies for the massive oil spill last February that blackened Orange County’s beaches, killed birds and marine life and shut down harbors.

The long-expected civil suit, filed Friday in Orange County Superior Court, comes 11 months after the tanker American Trader spilled about 400,000 gallons of crude oil as it tried to moor at a terminal off Huntington Beach. About 15 miles of Orange County shoreline was fouled with brown froth and sticky tar balls, forcing closure of some popular beaches for as long as five weeks.

State Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp, acting on his last day in office, filed the lawsuit on behalf of state agencies, the cities of Newport Beach and Huntington Beach, the Orange County district attorney and other county officials.

The complaint names BP America and two of its subsidiaries, which owned the oil and charted the tanker; Brandenburger Marine, which supplied the mooring master who guided the tanker; and Golden West Refining, the Santa Fe Springs oil refinery that operates the offshore terminal.

State and local officials as well as environmentalists have been anticipating the lawsuit, saying that it will probably set a precedent in California and attract the attention of oil companies nationally. The spill was the worst in Southern California since 1969, when an offshore platform spewed crude oil into Santa Barbara Channel.

Officials with BP America and Golden West Refining said Friday that they are willing to sit down and reach a settlement to avoid lengthy litigation. A spokesman for Brandenburger Marine was unavailable for comment.

The lawsuit seeks fines for violations of state pollution laws in addition to reimbursement for a long list of damages and costs. Included are injury to the area’s resources and wildlife, loss of tourism and tax dollars, disruption of recreational use of the beaches and harbors, and emergency and cleanup costs to state and county agencies. An unspecified amount in punitive damages also is being sought.

Van de Kamp alleges that the spill occurred “due to the conduct, acts and omissions of the defendants” and charges the three companies with 18 causes of action.

The oil caused “extensive physical damage to tide and submerged lands, beaches, marine life, waterfowl, wildlife, habitat and other natural resources,” the lawsuit charges.

The complaint does not name a specific sum, but Deputy Atty. Gen. Sylvia Cano Hale, the lead attorney in the case, said they will seek an amount “in the millions.”

The maximum fine for the case’s major allegation--violation of the state water code, which prohibits discharge of oil into state waters--is about $8 million.

The largest settlement in the nation for an oil spill was in 1989, when Shell Oil agreed to pay $19.75 million for a 432,000-gallon spill from a storage tank that caused major damage to sensitive wetlands in Suisun Bay near San Francisco.

Van de Kamp said in a statement Friday that his office “remains optimistic” that a settlement can be reached without a trial, but that the suit was filed “to protect our rights under the statute of limitations,” which runs out on the spill’s anniversary next month.

“We anticipate we will sit down soon and start negotiating to determine whether this matter can be settled,” Hale said.

The damages could be used to fund programs such as restoration of wetlands or creation of bird rescue centers in Orange County, and to reimburse California residents for costs of the spill, she said.

City officials and others also say that the suit can help compensate for any damage to the reputation of the county and its beaches.

“I think there definitely has been a tarnishing of Huntington Beach’s image,” said Bob Biddle, president of Huntington Beach Tomorrow, an environmental activist group. “People from outside the city still ask me if the beach is safe. And this sort of perception could mean the difference between our getting large conventions. It also could hurt downtown redevelopment.”