Plains All American Pipeline lost a significant preliminary skirmish this past week in what promises to be prolonged legal war over damages inflicted by last May’s Refugio Oil Spill. A federal judge ruled that agreements by about 150 individuals with whom Plains has already settled cannot bar them from seeking further compensation in the future.
According to attorney Barry Cappello, whose firm is one of three designated as lead co-counsel pursuing five consolidated class action lawsuits against Plains, the company agreed to pay off nearly 150 individuals for damages incurred on the condition that they not take any further legal action, even if new evidence emerges indicating the damages inflicted were greater than initially understood.
Plains took out large advertisements in Santa Barba ra media outlets — including The Santa Barbara Independent — announcing it was willing to enter into out-of-court settlements with parties harmed by the spill. Cappello — and the other two law firms designated joint lead counsel — took out ads as well, urging potential victims not to enter into out-of-court settlements with Plains and alerting them that the class action lawsuit had been filed.