Santa Barbara County CA : Trial Confirmed for People v_ Plains AllAmerican Pipeline, L_P_ on Criminal Charges Resulting from the Refugio Oil Spill on May 2015_

DA 01-456

OFFICE OF THE

DISTRICT ATTORNEY

COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA

JOYCE E. DUDLEY

District Attorney

RELEASE NUMBER

January 17, 2018

Kevin Weichbrod, Deputy District Attorney

CONTACT [phone]

***** PRESS RELEASE *****

Re:

Trial Confirmedfor People v. Plains AllAmerican Pipeline, L.P. on Criminal Charges Resultingfrom the Refugio Oil Spill on May 2015.

District Attorney Joyce E. Dudley announced today that the Jury Trial of People v. Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. will begin on February 5, 2018, in Department 1 of the Santa Barbara Superior Court. The People today dismissed the charge against Plains' employee, James Colby Buchanan, for failing to follow a material provision of Plains' Spill Response Plan. That charge remains one ofthe crimes alleged against Plains. The People will file an amended Indictment before the start of trial to set forth charged crimes that will be presented against Plains. Additionally, Mr. Buchanan was served by the District Attorney's office with a Subpoena for Appearance as a witness.

The case stems from the events that occurred around May 19, 2015, when a 24-inch subterranean oil pipeline, commonly referred to as Line 901, ruptured. The rupture allegedly caused the release of raw crude oil from the pipeline, which then surged down a culvert under the U.S. Highway 101 and into the Pacific Ocean offthe Goleta coastline near Refugio State Beach.

A copy of the Second Amended Indictment, once it has been filed against Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., can be obtained at the Records Department of the Santa Barbara Superior Court, Criminal Division.

* * * **