Appeal window closes for $70 million award in class action lawsuit brought by private owners over 2015 Refugio Oil Spill
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – A $70 million settlement, originally filed against Plains All American and brought on behalf of private landowners impacted after the 2015 Refugio Oil Spill, has been finalized and the first payments have already been issued.
The appeal period for the class action lawsuit, first filed in May of 2016, ended on Oct. 17 of this year.
According to Cappello and Noël LLP, a law firm representing some of the property owners in the suit, the settlement administrator will send payments directly to property owners in two installments with the second payment expected in early July of 2025.
The minimum payment owed to property owners is $50,000 and the average payment is about $250,000 shared Cappello and Noël LLP Monday.
The settlement resolves all class claims by the more than 170 parcels of private property still included in the class action lawsuit, but some parties from the original filing, such as Zaca Preserve LLC, have chosen to continue litigation instead of taking the settlement detailed Cappello and Noël LLP.
Since the lawsuit was initially filed, Plains All American had its assets sold as part of a broader purchase of the Santa Ynez Unit, which includes the ruptured pipelines, to Sable Offshore Company and Pacific Pipeline Company.
The settlement explained that Plains All American as well as other previous owners, such as ExxonMobil, had, "no obligations or liability whatsoever under this Settlement Agreement and are not obligated to pay the Settlement Amount" even in the event that assets revert back to ExxonMobil or its affiliates, a key component of Sable Offshore's current ownership agreement over the Santa Ynez Unit which reverts back to ExxonMobil if oil production is not restarted by 2026.
The image below, courtesy of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, details the entirety of the Santa Ynez Unit now owned by Sable Offshore.
"The settlement ends a nine-year battle to win compensation for the property owners whose land is burdened with the pipeline," said Barry Cappello, managing partner of Cappello & Noël LLP. "It was a long process, but justice has finally been delivered."
As part of the settlement, Pacific Pipeline Company agreed to a detailed repair plan, compliance with federal pipeline regulations, and adherence to the federal consent decree that Plains All American entered into years after the 2015 rupture and spill shared Cappello and Noël LLP.
Pacific Pipeline Company also agreed to not replace the pipeline by laying a second pipeline under a new easement agreement and will instead install automatic shutoff valves on the pipeline explained Cappello and Noël LLP.
In September, a Sept. 3 SEC filing detailed that Sable Offshore informed investors it had reached a conditional settlement agreement on Aug. 30, 2024, with Santa Barbara County. The County agreed that installing 16 new safety valves underground removed them from its jurisdiction.
Plans to restart oil production in just the last month have been met with an assortment of local, state, and federal regulatory actions including outright demands to cease all construction and safety valves installations in the coastal zone by the California Coastal Commission, the approval of lease transfers to Sable Offshore by the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission, and a still-pending decision over a production equipment and infrastructure safety waiver from the California Office of State Fire Marshal concerning federal regulations compliance.
Your News Channel reached out to the involved law firms who represented private owners from the lawsuit, the listed settlement administrator, and the current owners of the Santa Ynez Unit, Sable Offshore and Pacific Pipeline Company, for comment on the settlement and have not received a response.
