Contact: Laurel McWaters, Deputy District Attorney

(805) 479-6208

District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that the Venture County District Attorney's Office Fish and Game Prosecution Unit obtained a final judgment in a civil environmental protection case against Vintage Production, LLC and Occidental Oil and Gas Holding Corporation. Vintage is a Delaware corporation which owns and operates several crude oil and natural gas-producing properties in Ventura County . Occidental Oil and Gas Holding Corporation is a California corporation and a parent corporation of Vintage. The case was based upon investigations conducted by the California Department of Fish and Game.

The civil complaint filed by the District Attorney alleged that Vintage allowed petroleum and a residuary product of petroleum to pass into the waters of the State. Specifically, the complaint alleges that three separate spills occurred at Vintage facilities on September 6, 2007, March 15, 2008, and February 6, 2009, in violation of Fish and Game Code section 5650. Petroleum or residuals of petroleum reached streams or rivers during each incident.

Without admitting any wrongdoing, Vintage and Occidental agreed to a final judgment which requires the payment of civil penalties in the amount of $50,000, half of which shall be distributed to the Ventura County Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund, and half of which shall be deposited into the California Fish and Game Preservation Fund.