Judge approves $230M settlement in California oil spill case

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge has approved a $230 million lawsuit settlement by the owners of a pipeline that spilled more than 140,000 gallons of crude oil into the ocean off California in 2015. A federal judge in Los Angeles gave final approval on Tuesday to a settlement of a class-action suit that blamed Houston-based All American Pipeline and Plains Pipeline for the May 2015 spill off the Santa Barbara coast. The spill was the worst off the California coast since 1969.  It blackened popular beaches for miles, killing or fouling hundred of seabirds, seals and other wildlife and hurting tourism and fishing. Plains apologized for the spill and paid for the costly cleanup.