Jury convicts pipeline company in 2015 spill that put tar balls on South Bay beaches

In this May 21, 2015, file photo, workers prepare an oil containment boom at Refugio State Beach, north of Goleta, Calif. The shutdown of a pipeline that spilled up to 101,000 gallons of crude on the Santa Barbara coast forced Exxon Mobil Corp. to halt operations at three offshore platforms because it couldn't deliver oil to refineries, the company said Tuesday, June 23. A jury has convicted a pipeline company of nine criminal charges, finding it responsible for crude oil washing up on South Bay beaches in record numbers more than three years ago.