(Reuters] -A Federal Grand Jury has convicted Amplify Energy (NYSE) Corp. Two of its subsidiaries illegally and negligently discharged oil at a California pipeline breaking in October. The company also ignored alarms.

According to the Department of Justice, the indictment claims that eight alarms were not properly responded to by the San Pedro Bay Pipeline companies (covering a 17-mile stretch, 27 km), on October 2 and 3.

Amplify is also indicted along with its Beta Operating Co LLC, and San Pedro Bay Pipeline Co subsidiary. These actions resulted in oil running through the pipeline for three hours after the five first alarms were activated.

Amplify stated that it had investigated the pipeline, but the crew didn’t know the leak detection system wasn’t working properly.

It stated that the detection system “wrongly signaled a possible leak at the platform, where no leak could have been detected by platform personnel” in a statement.

Local officials considered the oil disaster an environmental catastrophe because it left dead fish, wetlands polluted, and birds engulfed in petroleum.

The statement stated that approximately 25,000 gallons of water were discharged at a location about 4.7 mi west of Huntington Beach, from a crack within the 16-inch pipe.

The Associated Press reported in an earlier article that the spillage was not under investigation for almost ten hours.