Witness questions prosecutor in tense oil spill trial

SANTA BARBARA -- In a somewhat contentious examination Friday, the lead prosecutor questioned an oil pipeline company official about his handling of the 2015 spill on Refugio State Beach, but the tension was broken with laughter when the witness responded with a question for his interrogator.

Deputy Attorney General Brett Morris is the lead prosecutor in the case, brought jointly with the Santa Barbara County district attorney's office, alleging Plains All American Pipeline was criminally negligent in its actions before and after the 142,000-gallon spill. People v. Plains All American Pipeline LP, 1495091 (Santa Barbara Super. Ct., filed May 16, 2016).

On Friday he continued cross-examination of James Buchanan, an environmental and regulatory compliance specialist for the pipeline company, about his handling of the spill, particularly notifications he is required to make under the law. Buchanan is the only Plains employees initially indicted.

But the charges against Buchanan were dropped after his attorney, Douglas Richards, filed a motion that exculpatory evidence was withheld by the prosecution. The court order dealing with the matter is heavily redacted and sealed.

Over repeated objections from the defense team that his questions were argumentative, Morris pressed on to pin down the meaning of the word "immediately," as it is used in the Plains emergency response plan. Witness questioning the day before covered what the word means under state and federal regulations.

"What does, 'Initiate contact with the National Response Center immediately,' mean to you?" Morris asked Buchanan on Friday.

"Initiate contact immediately would come with a bit of explanation," responded Buchanan.

Buchanan testified that, based on his training, he was to gather information before notifying the appropriate agencies no later than two hours after learning of the spill.

Morris then produced a text message written by Glen Mears, an environmental specialist at Plains, that was sent to Buchanan the day after the spill. It said, "Your response to everyone is u made the notification at 59 minutes with all the available information at the time. F*** off."

Morris questioned the purpose of the text and why 59 minutes was specifically mentioned by Mears.

Buchanan explained Mears was simply trying to reassure Buchanan that he had handled the response to the spill correctly.

Morris eventually pivoted his questioning from the timing of the response efforts to which agencies were called and which were present at the scene of the spill. Buchanan testified he gained knowledge of the spill after the fire department was already at the spill site at 1:25 p.m. on May 19, 2015.

After repeated inquiries as to who else was present at the site, Buchanan took over the examination. "What did the firefighters testify to?" the witness asked the prosecutor.

As laughter started to fill the courtroom, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge James Herman stepped in and said, "Let's get the roles straight. He asks the questions. You give the answers."

Buchanan testified he only directly knew of two agencies on the scene before making contact with the National Response Center at the Environmental Protection Agency.

Morris then asked, "So if someone is on scene, you don't have to call 911? If you see firefighters on scene, does that mean the sheriff's department is there to protect people on the beach from the toxic material coming down?"

Both questions were objected to and sustained by the judge. The trial, which started in May, continues Monday.