This story was edited on May 21, 2024 to provide accurate information about the preliminary settlement between Sabre Offshore Corp. and the property owners who filed the lawsuit.
A preliminary $70 million class action settlement over the 2015 Refugio oil spill would require the pipeline owners to pay more than 90 affected property owners.
Nearly 10 years ago a pipeline owned by Plains All American ruptured near Refugio State Beach, west of Goleta, and spilled over 100,000 gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean.
In 1991, property owners agreed to let the pipelines be built on their land as long as the owners took care of maintenance and operations. But a federal investigation found that in May of 2015, Plains All American's mistakes caused the crude oil to spill near Refugio State Beach.
If the settlement is finalized, it would be paid by the pipeline's current owners, Sable Offshore Corp.
The settlement's final approval will be decided in a hearing scheduled for September.
