Some criminal grand jury indictments issued against an oil company, and one of its employees over a major oil spill in Santa Barbara County earlier this year will remained sealed until after the trial.
Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Jean Dandona ruled that releasing the indictments might taint the potential jury pool, and make it difficult to conduct a fair trial.
A Santa Barbara County Grand Jury issued 46 indictments against Plains All-American Pipeline stemming from last May’s rupture of its pipeline at Refugio State Beach. The charges also include three misdemeanor counts against a Plains employee prosecutors claim failed to notify authorities about the spill in a timely manner. The company has said it will fight the charges.
More than 140,000 gallons of oil spilled onto the ground and into the ocean as a result of the accident, with cleanup taking months.
