Other Voices: Demand justice in pipeline spill

The Pasadena Star News published this editorial on Aug. 6:

It may take years for a final accounting of the damage done by the rupture of a pipeline near Santa Barbara in May.

But punishing those responsible should remain a top priority of California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who is running for U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer’s seat.

This week the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board formally asked Harris to pursue penalties from Plains All American Pipeline Co.

The company’s corroded pipeline spilled more than 100,000 gallons along the coastline and left the sandy beaches looking more like tar pits.

The Attorney General’s Office can seek up to $25,000 per day of violation and $25 per gallon of oil spilled in enforcement. But the AG can also seek civil and criminal charges.

She should.

What happens to the pipeline company will send a message to those who own the more than 7,000 miles of pipeline that crisscross California.

There is a big responsibility to ensure that those lines are properly cared for. And officials need to show that this is a top priority for a state that prides itself on its forward-thinking, green policies.

Despite this, it appears that it was too easy for Plains All American Pipeline, which has been cited repeatedly over the last decade for violations, to paper over serious corrosion in its pipeline.

In June Harris visited Refugio State Beach, which at the time was still closed, and said she would look at criminal prosecution.

The investigation is still ongoing. But if there is evidence that the company was negligent, she would be smart to demonstrate to the residents of the state how seriously she takes the health of California’s environment.

The public is waiting, especially those along the coast.

Around the same time Harris arrived for a tour of the beach, something akin to tar balls washed up on the shores of Long Beach, more than 100 miles to the south. Tests founds they came from the spill.

While investigators are counting up things like how much habitat was destroyed, how many birds were killed and how many miles of oil covered the ocean, the rest of us are asking how this was allowed to happen and if it will happen again. Probably, unless there is tough punishment.