Law firms line up oil spill cases

As officials were grilled during a news conference Tuesday about reports of a delayed response to an oil spill that is expected to close Orange County beaches for months, Amplify Energy Corp. faces a prospective federal class action, with more expected to follow in the coming days.

Alex R. Straus, senior counsel at Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, filed the first proposed class action Monday in federal court in Santa Ana on behalf of disc jockey Peter Moses Gutierrez Jr., against Houston-based Amplify Energy and its subsidiary, Beta Operating Co. LLC, which runs oil platforms off the coast of Huntington Beach.

The lawsuit says the disc jockey performs frequently at the beachfront and will lose a substantial amount of his business as a result of the closure of Huntington Beach. Gutierrez, who also lives in the area, alleges in the lawsuit that the oil spill will be damaging to his health. Peter Moses Gutierrez v. Amplify Energy Corp., 8:21-CV-1628 (C.D. Cal., filed Oct. 4, 2021

The proposed class action was assigned to U.S. District Judge David O. Carter of the Central District of California. The proposed class seeks to include anyone who experienced harm to personal property, personal health, animals and livestock they own, diminished property values and increased costs associated with repairs.

Causes of action alleged include negligence, response costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, private nuisance, trespass and medical monitoring.

The law firm continues to receive scores of calls from potential clients, and there are reports that the oil could affect southern coastlines as far as San Diego, which could result in amendments to the complaint, Straus said Tuesday.

"As to the delayed response in terms of alerting folks about the spill, that's an important and unfortunately common factor," Straus said. "I'm disheartened, but not entirely surprised."

Straus said he was contacted by a man and his 13-year-old daughter who visited Huntington Beach over the weekend and were completely unaware of the spill. Both ended up covered in oil after diving into the water, he said.

"That's the sort of thing that could have been mitigated if there was notification," Straus said. "I believe Amplify notified the agencies sometime Saturday and there's a debate as to the timeline of the response efforts, but I'm interested to see what the answers are."

Officials with the U.S. Coast Guard, California Department of Fish & Wildlife and Amplify Energy's chief executive officer Martyn Willsher were grilled by reporters Tuesday, fielding questions of why the public was not notified of the spill, despite officials being aware of the incident as early as Friday evening.

The leaking platform known as Elly is connected to a 17.7 mile pipeline. Divers were able to identify a slight bend in the pipe, and determined about 4,000 feet of it had been moved roughly 105 feet, officials said Tuesday. More than 120,000 gallons of oil spewed into the ocean. Divers also found a 13-inch split on the side of the pipe, which is believed to be the source of the oil spill, the officials said.

Willsher told reporters that while the cause of the spill remains under investigation, the company is doing everything it can to help with cleanup efforts. Willsher and representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard did not respond to questions about a delayed response and public notification.

Several other law firms said they expect to file legal complaints over the oil spill in coming days.

Alexander Robertson of Robertson & Associates LLP confirmed Tuesday that he has been retained by beachfront property owners and owners of commercial fishing companies to file a federal class action on their behalf.

Spencer R. Lucas of Panish Shea & Boyle LLP said he and Brian J. Panish also represents commercial fishermen and retail fishing establishments in Newport Harbor, many of whom are now worried they will struggle to make a living.

"I was down there in person on Saturday, meeting with a group of commercial fishermen. We could see the oil slick. We could smell it and it was during the Air Show in Huntington Beach," Lucas recalled. "One thing we know for certain is that Beta, the operator of the platform, has a long history of environmental and safety citations. It's time these Texas-based oil companies like Amplify who come out to California and drill on our beautiful coastlines for profit need to be held accountable."

"We know from experience the impacts these spills can have, and we are investigating potential claims victims," said Matthew Preusch, a Santa Barbara attorney with Keller Rohrback LLP, whom a federal judge appointed to represent victims of the 2015 Plains All American Pipeline oil spill in Santa Barbara County.

Pomerantz LLP, Gibbs Law Group and Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro issued statements Monday and Tuesday announcing that their lawyers are investigating claims on behalf of Amplify Energy's investors. Following news of the spill, the company's stock price was halved but has since regained some of the loss.