AnonymousSource: Santa Barbara County District Attorney
District Attorney Joyce E. Dudley announced [Wednesday] that the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Environmental Protection Unit, under the leadership of DDA Chris Dalbey, in conjunction with the District Attorney’s Offices of Kern, Los Angeles, and Ventura Counties, have obtained a $464,000 stipulated final judgment against California Resources Corporation (CRC). CRC, based in Los Angeles and a 2014 spinoff of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, acquired all of Occidental’s active and discontinued California oil and gas exploration and production, including certain wells located in Kern, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties (CRC’s California E&P Operations).
The settlement resolves allegations that prior to the 2014 acquisition, CRC’s California E&P Operations generated hazardous wastes and caused them to be unlawfully transported and disposed of at the Anterra Energy facility in Oxnard, California, which is not authorized to receive hazardous waste.
Under the terms of the judgment, CRC must comply with a permanent injunction that requires it to follow California laws and regulations covering the safe management of hazardous waste. In addition, CRC was ordered to pay $400,000 in civil penalties of which $250,000 are to be paid to the lead agency, Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, and $50,000 each to the District Attorney’s Offices of Kern, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara Counties.
District Attorney Dudley said, “The allegations of unlawful conduct against CRC were serious and potentially endangered the public and the environment. We are grateful that CRC agreed to resolve this case, and to do so in a comprehensive manner with four different county jurisdictions.”
