Shell Oil Company will pay California more than 19 million dollars because of environmental violations at service stations throughout the state, officials said Friday. The agreement, filed Friday in a California state court, requires Shell to pay 17.8 million dollars in civil penalties as well as 1.7 million dollars in costs to state and local agencies.
The deal ends a three-year investigation into more than 1,000 Shell stations throughout the state focusing on operation and maintenance of underground storage tanks, as well as the handling of hazardous waste materials. California Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a news release that the investigation found hundreds of violations at the company's gasoline stations in California.