Santa Barbara County’s Water Resources Division pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to pay $750,000 in civil penalties Wednesday related to oil spills from the troubled Toro Canyon oil-water-separator system.
After months of litigation over the system, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office and the county reached a settlement and filed the criminal case and civil judgment this week to enact it.
“The settlement was already in place at the point in time that we filed the complaint,” District Attorney John Savrnoch told Noozhawk on Wednesday. The statute of limitations for the criminal charges was coming up, which affected the settlement discussions timeline, he added.
The Water Resources Division of Public Works pleaded guilty to knowingly engaging in or causing a discharge of oil into California waters between Jan. 22, 2021 and July 6, 2021 for a multi-month leak; and discharging oil into United States Waters on Jan. 1, 2023.
It also agreed to pay a $15,000 fine and will be on probation for one year, requiring the Water Resources Division to obey all laws and not discharge oil into waterways.
The county is paying $3.72 million to replace the system and the construction should be done in summer 2024, Gerckens Buttitta said.
“This case highlights the commitment my office has to holding everyone accountable when they violate environmental laws — regardless of whether they are an individual, corporation, or government entity,” Savrnoch said in a statement. “Santa Barbara County has a long legacy of environmental consciousness and I am committed to honoring that legacy and to protecting the beautiful community in which we all live.”
County Will Pay $750,000 in Civil Penalties
The District Attorney’s Office accused the county of negligently spilling oil; failing to start oil cleanup; operating without an oil spill continency plan; failing to immediately report a spill; polluting the water; and operating an underground storage tank without proper permits, among other things.
According to the stipulated judgment filed Wednesday, the county will pay $750,000 in civil penalties to resolve the case and potential civil liability. Those payments include $300,000 for environmental projects and $75,000 for a compliance consultant.
“Replacing this facility protects the County against future discharges in Toro Canyon and is the right thing to do,” First District County Supervisor Das Williams said in a statement. “The county is committed to best safeguarding our community and natural resources in Toro Canyon and throughout the county.”
This issue goes back to the 1880s, when Occidental Mining and Petroleum Co. built a natural seepage well and an oil-water-separator system in the Carpinteria-Summerland area. The system was retrofitted in the 1990s after a spill and the county took over the facility in 2009.
“From the beginning, Public Works WRD failed to properly maintain the OWS or to obtain any of the required permits to operate it, even though email communications show agency employees were aware of the legal requirements,” Savrnoch’s Office said in a statement Wednesday.
Read the full press release from Savrnoch’s office here.
Even after the lengthy spill and environmental impacts in 2020-2021, Public Works Water Resource Division didn’t address all of its violations found during inspections – like its broken leak-detection alarm.
“Because of these deficiencies, in the early morning hours of January 1, 2023, during a rainstorm, the (underground storage tank) overflowed. Since the leak-detection alarm was not working, no one learned of the spill until nine hours later when a homeowner saw oil flowing in Toro Canyon Creek,” Savrnoch’s office said.
County Fire tried to call the division’s emergency contact, but the line was disconnected, and by the time they did get in touch, hundreds of gallons of oil had flowed into the creek and downstream.
Wednesday’s judgment also resolves the other District Attorney’s Office civil case for the Toro Canyon oil-water-separator, which alleged the county made little effort to stop the 2020-21 leak and was violating the California Public Records Act by withholding certain documents from investigators.
Former DA Joyce Dudley filed the case in December 2022 and Savrnoch took the case over when he assumed office in January.