Oil Tanker Owner to Pay $16 Million for 1990 Spill
After months of negotiating, the owner of a tanker that ran aground in 1990 and spilled more than 400,000 gallons of oil off the coast has agreed to pay $16 million in damages.
The money will be set aside for recreational projects in Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and county and state parks affected by the spill.
The disaster, Orange County’s worst oil spill, occurred after the tanker American Trader ran over its anchor in February 1990, puncturing the hull and spilling crude oil that closed beaches for weeks, killed at least 1,000 birds and cost millions of dollars to clean up.
A jury in December 1997 ordered the American Trading Transportation Co., also known as Attransco, to pay $18.1 million, but the company appealed. The agreement announced Tuesday ends that appeal, said Deputy Atty. Gen. Sylvia Cano Hale, and closes out a precedent setting case holding companies financially accountable for damaging the public’s right to go to the beach.
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