The rats who run Shell Oil Co. have been nailed by a private whistleblower over false claims. Shell Oil Co. has forfeited a chance to collect up to $150 million from a state-run fund that reimburses oil companies for cleaning up leaking underground storage tanks.
Besides losing out on the potential reimbursements, Shell will pay $20 million in penalties under a settlement announced Friday by California officials, bringing the total cost to as much as $170 million.
The whistleblower will collect a portion of the $20 million.Shell and its Equilon Enterprises LLC subsidiary were essentially accused of double billing – collecting insurance proceeds and then submitting claims to a mammoth cleanup fund run by the State Water Resources Control Board.
“They were getting reimbursement for cleanup costs from an insurer,” said Andrew DiLuccia, spokesman for the water board. Under the settlement announced Friday, the state is disallowing claims by Shell covering 100 underground tanks, worth up to $150 million in potential total reimbursements.
Shell is the third oil company in the past two years to settle with the state over false claims allegedly submitted to the storage tank fund. The Shell settlement is by far the largest.
Read the whole story at: Shell Oil could lose millions over false California environmental cleanup claims – The Sacramento Bee
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