FILE - This aerial image taken with a drone, shows the closed beach after oil washed up in Newport Beach, Calif., on Oct. 7, 2021. A pipeline operator says it has reached a settlement with tour operators, fishermen and other businesses that sued after a crude oil spill off the Southern California coast last year. Amplify Energy says in a statement Thursday, Aug.
The company did not say how much the businesses would be paid but said its insurance policies will cover the cost of the settlement, which would still need to be approved by a federal court. The pipeline rupture sent blobs of crude washing ashore in surf-friendly Huntington Beach and other coastal communities.
Attorneys for the businesses that sued said in a statement that the settlement includes monetary relief but they didn't provide details. The agreement doesn’t apply to the operators of ships accused of dragging anchors in the harbor and causing damage to the pipeline months before the spill.