HUNTINGTON BEACH (CNS) – Huntington Beach officials Monday announced a $5.2 million settlement with Amplify Energy stemming from the 2021 oil spill.
The announcement at a news conference, however, illustrated the partisan 4-3 split in the City Council with both sides bickering over the fine points of the deal.
“We are grateful to Amplify for working diligently for the city’s losses due to the oil spill,” City Attorney Michael Gates said at a news conference with Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark and Council members Casey McKeon and Tony Strickland.
Councilman Dan Kalmick, who is in the minority on the council with Rhonda Bolton and Natalie Moser, said he didn’t get word of the news conference until Monday morning. Kalmick said he was told of the settlement over the weekend.
Van Der Mark said the deal was struck last week.
“It is great news for the city,” Van Der Mark said. “We can now move forward and put these conflicts to rest.”
McKeon slammed the previous City Council for canceling the last day of the Pacific Air Show in 2021 due to the oil spill. He also claimed the “previous council took a pass on solving this problem… After being sworn in we immediately went to work to resolve this conflict. We have successfully resolved this conflict and made the city whole.”
Kalmick told City News Service that when he, Bolton and Moser attempted to answer questions about the settlement at the news conference that their microphones were cut off. Only the part of the news conference with the council majority was on the city’s Facebook page.
“They turned the mikes off on us,” Kalmick said. “Someone was directed to turn the mikes off.”
Kalmick said the council “can’t agree on a same set of facts” regarding the cancellation of the last day of the Pacific Air Show. Also, the councilman said there should have been more research into what the city’s losses were due to the spill.
But, he added, “I think we got a great deal.”
Kalmick noted, however, that it is unclear how much the city’s outside law firm will be paid from the settlement.
“We don’t know what our outside attorneys are going to charge us,” he said.
It was revealed earlier this year that the city reached a settlement to pay nearly $5 million in May 2023 to the air show for the cancellation of the last day of the 2021 event. The city could owe up to $2 million more out of any settlement with Amplify, but Gates insisted that the settlement with Amplify covers damages the city suffered.
“This settlement between the city and Amplify are for the benefit of the city exclusively and no other party,” Gates said. “This settlement is for the city of Huntington Beach only.”
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