An oil pipeline company has reached a $230 million settlement with California fishermen and fish processors after a disastrous 2015 oil spill in the state, court documents show.
Plains All American Pipeline (PAAP) will pay $184 million to fishers and $46 million to property after a spill at Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County, California on May 19, 2015.
The plaintiffs pored over 50 expert reports and more than 1.5 million pages of documents to make their case. PAAP did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment outside normal working hours.
Around 123,000 gallons of oil spilled from a corroded pipe into one of the most biologically diverse areas of the West Coast. Some estimates put the figure even higher.
The spill devastated the local economy and caused the deaths or fouling of hundreds of seabirds, seals and other wildlife and hitting tourism and fishing.
The pipe has remained idle since, hurting the area’s oil industry where Exxon Mobil operated on three platforms.
Fishers were granted damages based on a calculation of potential lost catch from the spill, while 3,000 coastal properties that experienced oiling and other properties adjacent to the beach will also receive a settlement.