Chevron to pay $13M settlement amid probe
Massive spill still flows in California county 21 years after it began
in 2019, where a river of thick crude flowed down a natural watershed. Chevron for several years denied it posed a risk to health and the environment, and fought a $1.6 million fine imposed by state regulators.
The new fines, while unprecedented for both the Department of Conservation and Department of Fish and Wildlife, are a drop in the bucket for Chevron, which reported $2.3 billion in earnings in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Spills in Chevron’s Cymric oil field have gushed more than 6 million gallons of wastewater and crude as of last June, but last week’s announcement covers only 2 million gallons spilled from unidentified Kern County Chevron operations.
A spokesman for the fish and wildlife department said in an email that the fines cover various Kern County spills, including the first phase of the Cymric incident that the agency’s oil spill response teams responded to from June 2019 through April 2020, totaling 1.2 million gallons, about 70% wastewater and 30% oil.
As for the decadeslong GS-5 spill, conservation department spokesman Jacob Roper said, “As mitigation continues, less oil finds it way to the surface. Mitigation measures include injecting water underground to improve ground stability, sealing subsurface leak paths, and removing fluids in shallow areas before they can reach the surface.”
“The settlements demonstrate our continuing commitment to take action to address issues and prevent similar incidents in the future,” Chevron North America spokesman Sean Comey said by email. “Throughout our operations we work collaboratively with government agencies to protect people and the environment and maintain safe and reliable operations.”
The California agencies’ announcement received qualified praise from an environmental attorney who monitors the state laws and policies on oil and gas production and spills.
“It’s great to see one of the state’s most prolific polluters fined for its destruction to the environment,” said Hollin Kretzmann, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “But it’s outrageous that Chevron earned more than $11million off selling the oil collected from one surface spill – almost equal to the amount of this historic fine. “
Staff at the Department of Conservation’s Geologic Energy Management division and the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response also conducted comprehensive investigations after raising internal red flags for years.
In the announcement March 20, the conservation department announced a settlement agreement totaling $5.6 million for Chevron oil spills in Kern County in 2019 but did not spell out which spills it covered. The company, which has already paid for cleanup costs, will pay those fines to CalGEM, and it is the largest penalty assessed in the department’s history, the news release said.
The March 20 release said conservation staff previously identified 378 wells across six counties to begin work under the state’s well abandonment program, which permanently seals orphan wells and remediates sites. Work in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties began late last year – with much of the work made possible by the governor and Legislature including a historic $125 million in state and federal funding to address aging oil infrastructure.
“In addition, California is eligible for an additional $140 million in federal funding to plug more wells and will pursue those opportunities in the coming year,” the release said.
Separately, the fish and wildlife department announced a related settlement agreement totaling $7.5 million for Chevron spills in Kern County, also described as “the largest administrative fine in department history.”