OXNARD/PIRU : Oil Cleanups Finished but Charges Possible

The cleanup of two major oil spills in Ventura County is completed, but the Ventura and Los Angeles county district attorney’s offices still are considering filing criminal or civil charges against the oil companies involved.

The state attorney general’s office may seek civil penalties as well if the oil companies fail to restore the ecologically sensitive areas affected by the spills, officials said.

The Ventura County district attorney’s office will determine whether it will bring charges against Bush Oil Co. after the state Department of Fish and Game completes its investigation of a spill, which resulted from a broken pipeline and leaked more than 84,000 gallons of crude oil into the McGrath Lake wetlands in December, Deputy Dist. Atty. Doug Whaley said.

The report should be completed by April, officials said.

Also, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office is considering filing charges against Atlantic Richfield Co. for an oil spill that fouled more than 12 miles of the Santa Clara River east of Piru after a pipeline ruptured during the Northridge earthquake, officials said.

“There are several possibilities, code sections (the company) may have violated, but we are purely in the investigative stages,” L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. Erica Martin said. “It spilled into a waterway, so that brings up a whole spectrum of water pollution charges.”

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office is investigating the spill because it originated near Valencia in Los Angeles County, Martin said. The D.A.’s office hopes to have the investigation wrapped up in the next few months.

The attorney general’s office is waiting for the Department of Fish and Game to complete natural resources damage assessments on the spills before determining what action it might take, officials said. The department hopes to have those studies completed before the end of the year.