Pipeline company indicted in connection with Santa Barbara oil spill

A pipeline company said Tuesday it has been indicted in connection with the massive oil spill last year in Santa Barbara.

Plains All American Pipeline said the company and ones of its employees was indicted by a grand jury 46 counts related to the May, 2015. Both state and local prosecutors had been investigating possible wrongdoing related to the pipe rupture, which sent oil onto beaches and into the ocean.

The corroded pipeline owned by Plains All American Pipeline ruptured May 19 and spilled roughly 101,000 gallons of crude along the coast near the picturesque state beach. About 21,000 gallons made its way from where the underground pipe is buried above U.S. 101 into a storm culvert and flowed into the Pacific.

Some tar balls from the spill have floated as far away as Manhattan Beachin Los Angeles County, state officials said this week.

The section of pipe that broke had worn down to 1/16 of an inch, and investigators found a six-inch crack along the bottom of the pipe, according to preliminary findings from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

In a statement, the company said: “Plains believes that neither the company nor any of its employees engaged in any criminal behavior at any time in connection with this accident, and that criminal charges are unwarranted. We will vigorously defend ourselves against these charges and are confident we will demonstrate that the charges have no merit and represent an inappropriate attempt to criminalize an unfortunate accident.”

Prosecutors could not immediately be reached for comment.