Huntington Beach reaches $5M settlement over 2021 oil spill but critics call it bad deal

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- Three years after 25,000 gallons of crude oil spilled into the ocean off the coast of Huntington Beach, city leaders announced a $5.25 million settlement with Amplify Energy over the incident.

City Attorney Michael Gates said the money will go to the city's general fund and would not be shared with others who sued the energy company.

"To be clear, the city will not be required to make any payments or offer any share of this $5.25 million to any other party claiming losses from the 2021 oil spill," Gates said.

What the city will do with the money remained unclear Monday.

This one of several contentious topics clearly dividing the city council.

The microphone was shut off as three dissenting council members, Dan Kalmick, Rhonda Bolton and Natalie Moser, who were not welcomed at the press conference took the podium.

The microphone was suddenly turned off when Kalmick stepped up to speak.

"We believe that they gave away your taxpayer money and the $5.25 million received today - we used outside counsel for that. We don't know what the net number is yet, that's gonna come back to the city. That's not your gross number, not your net number and so, we still have to pay Code Four. What we contractually agreed to is $4.99 million so the city taxpayers get nothing from this deal," Kalmick said.

Code Four is the agency behind the Pacific Airshow, which had its last day canceled in 2021 after the oil sheen was discovered.

The city attorney told Eyewitness News Monday, so far, a payment of $1.99 million has gone to Code Four, along with the first installment of half a million dollars - an amount to be paid annually until the nearly $5 million is paid in full.

Gates said Monday he was still negotiating the amount to be paid to the outside counsel contracted to reach the settlement agreement with Amplify Energy.