OXNARD : Agency Urged to Sue Over Oil Spill
Alleging that Berry Petroleum’s failure to properly maintain a pipeline caused an 85,000-gallon oil spill near Oxnard in December, staff members of the state Water Quality Control Board have recommended that the agency file suit against the oil company.
The water board staff will ask its nine-member board to refer the evidence to the state attorney general’s office and to join a lawsuit against Berry being filed by the state Department of Fish and Game, said Robert Ghirelli, water board executive officer.
If the board votes to join the two lawsuits, Berry could be subject to nearly $2 million in fines, penalties and administrative costs, Ghirelli said.
Officials of the Taft-based oil company did not return phone calls Friday.
On Christmas Day, crew members with the federal Minerals Management Service spotted a small slick of oil on the ocean that was trailing off McGrath Lake near Oxnard.
Investigators believe an oil transfer line designed to move oil from Berry’s Gonzales Road production fields to holding tanks across Harbor Boulevard near the lake failed, allowing an estimated 85,000 gallons of crude oil to spill into the lake and onto the beach.
Ghirelli said the water board will consider the matter at its June 13 meeting in Glendale.
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