Plains Oil Spill Litigation Resource Center

This website is maintained by the law firms identified below, to provide access to information and documents related to the class action lawsuit filed against Plains All American. The lawsuit was filed to recover losses suffered as a result of the massive oil spill on May 19, 2015 from an underground pipeline owned by Plains, located along the coastline near Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County, California.

Current Case Status

A SETTLEMENT HAS BEEN REACHED IN THE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT ANDREWS ET AL. V. PLAINS ALL AMERICAN PIPELINE, L.P. ET AL., NO. 2:15-CV-04113 (PSG:JEM) (C.D. CAL.). THE SETTLEMENT IS ON BEHALF OF MEMBERS OF THE FISHER CLASS AND PROPERTY CLASS PREVIOUSLY CERTIFIED BY THIS COURT.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SETTLEMENT, PLEASE CLICK ON THE BOX BELOW.

FISHER CLASS: In 2017, Judge Gutierrez ruled that fishers and processors affected by the oil spill could move forward with their class action lawsuit against Plains. The Fisher Class definition was amended on November 22, 2019.

To Determine if you are a member of the Fisher Class, please review the definition for the Certified Fisher Class to determine if you or your business satisfies the criteria:

You are a Fisher Class Member if you are a person or business who owned or worked on a vessel that was in operation as of May 19, 2015 and that:

(1) landed any commercial seafood in California Department of Fish & Wildlife (“CDFW”) fishing blocks 654, 655, or 656; or landed any commercial seafood, except groundfish or highly migratory species (as defined by the CDFW and the Pacific Fishery Management Council), in CDFW fishing blocks 651-656, 664-670, 678-686, 701-707, 718-726, 739-746, 760-765, or 806-809; from May 19, 2010 to May 19, 2015, inclusive;

OR if you are a person or business in operation as of May 19, 2015 who purchased such commercial seafood directly from the Commercial Fishers and re-sold it at the retail or wholesale level (“Fish Processor”)

The fishing blocks included in the Fisher Class are highlighted in this diagram below:

You are excluded from the Fisher Class if you are:

• a Defendant, any entity or division in which Defendants have a controlling interest, and their legal representatives, officers, directors, employees, assigns and successors;

• the judge to whom this case is assigned, the judge’s staff, and any members of the judge’s immediate family; and

• businesses that contract directly with Plains for use of the Pipeline.

You are no longer a Fisher Class Member if you previously excluded yourself from the Fisher Class during the initial notice period, or entered a separate settlement with Defendants for which you signed a full release.

PROPERTY CLASS: On April 17, 2018, Judge Gutierrez certified a Property Class.. The Property Class is defined as:

Owners or lessees of residential beachfront properties on a beach and residential properties with a private easement to a beach (collectively “Included Properties”) where oil from the 2015 Santa Barbara oil spill washed up, and where the oiling was categorized as Heavy, Moderate or Light, as identified in Exhibit A to Plaintiffs' renewed motion.

Please click here for Exhibit A to see the affected properties.

You are excluded from the proposed Property Class if you are:

• a Defendant, any entity or division in which Defendants have a controlling interest, and their legal representatives, officers, directors, employees, assigns and successors;

• the judge to whom this case is assigned, the judge’s staff, and any members of the judge’s immediate family.

OIL INDUSTRY CLASS [NOT CERTIFIED]: Plaintiffs’ counsel requested to certify a class of Oil Workers defined as workers or businesses who were prevented from their ability to work on or provide supplies, personnel, or services for the operations of the off-shore drilling platforms as a result of the spill. As of November 20, 2019, the court dismissed claims brought on behalf of the Oil Industry Class and ruled that these claimants cannot proceed as a group. A number of Oil Workers have since filed individual cases in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Santa Barbara and those cases are proceeding against Plains All American. See Jefferey Bowen, et al., v. Plains All American Pipeline L.P., et al., No. 20CV01873; and Peter Trejo, et al.., v. Plains All American Pipeline L.P., et al., No. 20CV01872.

TOURISM CLASS [NOT CERTIFIED]: Plaintiffs’ Counsel requested to certify a Tourism Class, defined as businesses that provided services to tourists travelling to the Santa Barbara area who lost money as a result of the oil spill. On February 28, 2017, the district court denied Plaintiffs’ motion to certify the Tourism Class.

Andrews, et al. v. Plains All American Pipeline, LP 
United States District Court, Central District of California
Case No. 2:15-cv-04113 

Juli E. Farris
Keller Rohrback
jfarris@kellerrohrback.com
(805) 456-1496

William Audet
Audet & Partners
waudet@audetlaw.com
(415) 568-2555