A federal grand jury has indicted Phillips 66, charging the giant oil and gas company with multiple counts of violating the Clean Water Act. The charges follow from two spills in 2020 and 2021, in which the company is accused of dumping a total of 790,000 gallons of polluted wastewater into Los Angeles County's sewer system from its oil processing plant, CBS News reports. A criminal indictment of a large corporation over environmental violations is rare, US Attorney Martin Estrada told reporters.
"We are sending a message," Estrada said, per the Washington Post. "Corporations and individuals need to take their duties to protect the environment seriously. We also want to send the message that nobody is above the law." The charges include two counts of negligently violating the Clean Water Act and four counts of knowingly violating the law. Phillips 66 faces up to five years' probation for each count, per the Los Angeles Times, and $2.4 million in fines. Estrada said the company could be ordered to pay restitution to Los Angeles County. Phillips has not entered a plea; arraignment is to take place in the coming weeks.
In the case of both oil-tainted spills, the company did not inform the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, prosecutors said. The agency's wastewater treatment plant in Carson was able to collect the contaminated water, keeping it from reaching the Pacific Ocean. But workers were at risk from the deluge of oil and grease, per the Times, because it could have caused a buildup of flammable methane and exploded. Phillips announced last month that it's shutting down the 650-acre refinery complex in Carson and Wilmington. (More oil spill stories.)
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