Chevron U.S.A. Inc. has pleaded guilty to 65 violations of the Clean Water Act in its operation of Platform Grace in the Santa Barbara Channel off California.
It agreed to pay $6.5 million in criminal penalties and $1.5 million in civil fines. The justice Department said the criminal penalty is the third largest assessed in the U.S. for environmental violations.
As part of the plea agreement, EPA dropped a civil suit against Chevron.
Chevron pleaded guilty to 36 counts of operating Platform Grace while knowingly exceeding the oil and grease discharge limit in its permit during 1982-87.
It admitted to nine counts of diluting waste water prior to sampling to understate the amount of oil and grease discharged and to seven counts of concealing waste water test results from EPA.
Chevron admitted to seven counts of dumping untreated waste water in the ocean and six counts of dumping sandblast waste into the ocean.
As part of the plea agreement, Chevron Pres. Raymond Galvin will appear in court to enter the guilty plea and be present for sentencing.
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