Texas-based oil company charged for oil spill in Orange County, California

If the company is convicted it could face up to five years of probation and millions in fines

A Houston-based oil company and two of its subsidiaries are being charged for an oil spill that polluted waters and beaches in Southern California in October.

Prosecutors claimed the spill was caused partially due to the company's failure to act properly when alarms alerted workers to a rupture in a pipeline.

NPR reports that Amplify Energy Corp and its subsidiaries were indicted by a federal grand jury with a misdemeanour count of illegally discharging oil. The company operates several oil rigs and pipelines near Long Beach, California.

According to investigators, the pipeline that ruptured was weakened after a passing ship's anchor caught it in January. It ruptured later that year on 1 October and spilled nearly 25,000 gallons (94,600 liters) of oil into the ocean.

Prosecutors outlined six ways in which the company's response to the spill was negligent. They claim the company failed to respond to eight leak detection alarms over a 13 -hour period. Rather than responding to the spill, prosecutors claim the company shut down the pipeline after each alarm and restarted it, which resulted in more oil spilling into the ocean.

The company said workers believed the alarms were errors and that the system was malfunctioning. It has placed the blame for the spill on the unnamed shipping company whose anchor damaged the pipe.

"Had the crew known there was an actual oil spill in the water, they would have shut down the pipeline immediately," the company said.

The first of the rupture alarms sounded at 4.10pm on 1 October, but the leak was ultimately not discovered until after sunrise the next morning. Residents on shore noticed a strong scent of crude oil and called 911 to file reports.

Local authorities searched the area on 1 October but could not find the source of the smell until after sunrise the following day.

Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley said the indictment validated the concerns of the residents who called in the report.

"It's terrible that they basically lied to the community during the press briefings and caused people to believe that what they saw with their own eyes or smelled or knew was actually not true," she said. "What we know now is that the company knew this, and the alarms went off like they were supposed to, and nobody did anything."

Prosecutors also determined the pipeline was understaffed and the crew was both fatigued and undertrained on the leak detection system.

If the company is convicted, it could be subject to up to five years of probation and fines in the millions of dollars.