HUNTINGTON BEACH — Five years to the day after a 400,000-gallon oil spill fouled 15 miles of Orange County coast, government officials Tuesday announced nearly $9.1 million in lawsuit settlements that will help pay for damage from one of the worst environmental disasters in county history.
BP America--the U.S. subsidiary of British Petroleum Co.--and a petroleum industry fund will compensate government agencies and private businesses for losses suffered when the 80,000-ton oil tanker American Trader ran over its own anchor while trying to moor off Huntington Beach, sending ashore waves of crude oil that killed hundreds of birds and marine animals. A host of lawsuits and new state legislation aimed at protecting the coast followed.
"Today's settlement is a victory for the people of California and the environment they live in," said Lois Schiffer, assistant U.S. attorney general for environmental and natural resources.
Added Tom Mays, mayor of Huntington Beach at the time of the spill: "I think it's finally come to an end. It was just a matter of time. I'm glad it's finally over."
Under one of three separate accords, BP America, which owned the oil and chartered the tanker, agreed to spend $3.89 million to restore, create and protect wildlife habitats for brown pelicans and other species in undetermined locations.
The company will also fund a fish hatchery in a Carlsbad lagoon, support ocean and coastal pollution mitigation projects and repay various agencies for cleanup and revenue lost during the spill.
Under a second settlement, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Liability Fund--created by Congress in 1973 to pay for damage from Alaskan pipeline oil spills and funded with a nickel-per-barrel tax on oil--will contribute $3 million to a trust fund for future environmental mitigation and restoration projects.
And in a third agreement, both groups will pay $2.175 million to about 190 private businesses and individuals--most of them commercial fishing operators--who suffered economic losses from the spill.
"I can't believe we really won," said Norman Nitta, manager of the Seacliff Motel in Laguna Beach. He said the motel suffered as much as $70,000 in losses during the spill from guests who tracked oil and tar into driveways, stairways and rooms.
BP America spokesman John Andes called the overall settlement "fair compensation for the damages that were done. The settlement is earmarked for specific projects, most of which are directly in (environmental) restoration, which is what this was all about."
