The $4.7 million settlement will be split between different agencies decided on by the state Department of Fish & Game’s Ventura branch, but the funds will be spent on habitat restoration, revegetation and protection of the watershed and its species. Nearly $2.7 million has been earmarked for continuing cleanup of the spill area, and another $600,000 will go into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, an organization that provides immediate oil spill cleanup efforts nationwide.Testing for long-term damages will also be funded by the settlement.In 1997, Arco agreed to pay $7.1 million plus interest for spilling nearly 200,000 gallons of oil into the Santa Clara River, the result of a pipeline that burst during the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.Among the programs the Arco settlement will fund are buying more land around the river ecosystems, monitoring species, controlling evasive plants such as arundo, which is overrunning riverbanks, and grants to grass root groups to improve the Santa Clara River.
Santa Clara River: $4.7 million settlement for 1991 oil spill
October 09, 2002
Santa Paula News
A 1991 pipeline rupture that sent 74,000 of gallons of oil into the Santa Clara River has cost Exxon-Mobil $4.7 million just days after a lawsuit was filed by the U.S. Department of Justice when the oil company agreed to a settlement.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesA 1991 pipeline rupture that sent 74,000 of gallons of oil into the Santa Clara River has cost Exxon-Mobil $4.7 million just days after a lawsuit was filed by the U.S. Department of Justice when the oil company agreed to a settlement.This is the second such settlement benefiting the Santa Clara River in the last five years.Mobil Oil, now Exxon-Mobil, was pumping oil through a 12-inch pipeline on Jan. 31, 1991, when the rupture occurred in Valencia near the county-line. Corrosion caused the section of pipeline to split, and although the spill was contained in about 10 minutes, 74,000 gallons of oil had dumped into the adjacent Santa Clara River. About 250 birds and other animals died in the spill but rescue efforts saved many more.Exxon-Mobil agreed to the settlement after years of study on how the spill damaged the river and its ecosystems.
