Pipeline operator agrees to guilty plea in California spill

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A pipeline operator and two subsidiaries have agreed to plead guilty to negligently discharging oil off the Southern California coast in connection with a pipeline break that covered beaches with blobs of crude. The U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles said Friday that Houston-based Amplify Energy and two subsidiaries agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and pay a $7 million fine and nearly $6 million in expenses incurred by government entities including the U.S. Coast Guard. The plea agreements still need to be approved by U.S. District Judge David Carter. The October 2021 leak in a pipeline that ferried crude oil from offshore platforms to the Southern California coast spilled about 25,000 gallons of crude into the ocean.