Chevron agrees to $13.1 million settlement from McKittrick oil spills

A series of 70 oil spills that showed Kern County's oil industry in a negative light starting nearly five years ago has finally been settled through a pair of unprecedented payments that will fund the plugging of orphan wells and expansion of wildlife habitat.

Chevron Corp.'s agreement to pay state government $13.1 million, announced Wednesday, ends a lingering dispute over the uncontrolled release of 10,633 barrels of crude oil from intermittent leaks in the Cymric Oil Field in McKittrick that started in mid-May 2019 and prompted a visit by Gov. Gavin Newsom followed by a hearing in the state Legislature.