Company indicted for not stopping oil leak after many alarms

By BRIAN MELLEY and MATTHEW BROWN
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal prosecutors are blaming a Texas oil company’s negligence for a crude spill that fouled Southern California’s coastline. A criminal indictment from a federal grand jury released Wednesday says fatigued workers failed to properly act when repeated alarms signaled an offshore pipeline rupture. Houston-based Amplify Energy Corp. and two subsidiaries are charged with a misdemeanor for discharging oil off Huntington Beach. Amplify says workers responded to what they believed were false alarms because the system wasn’t functioning properly. The spill forced beach closures and a fishing ban. Amplify wants to replace the damaged line. It faces potentially millions of dollars in fines if convicted.