DOJ: Record year for shipowner pollution penalties
JANUARY 17, 2017 — The Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice has been tallying up its achievements in 2016. It notes that it “continued its robust program
JANUARY 17, 2017 — The Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice has been tallying up its achievements in 2016. It notes that it “continued its robust program
DECEMBER 1, 2016 —The Department of Justice reports that Princess Cruise Lines Ltd. has agreed to plead guilty to seven felony charges stemming from its deliberate pollution of the seas and intentional
OCTOBER 26, 2016 — Two German shipping companies that owned and operated the M/V Nils B, pleaded guilty today to an environmental crime in federal court in San Diego before the Honorable
JULY 6, 2016 — Schnaittenbach, Germany, headquartered Mineralien Schiffahrt Spedition und Transport GmbH (MST), operator of the M/V Cornelia, will pay penalties totaling $1 million after yesterday pleaded guilty in U.S. District
APRIL 11,2016 — Norwegian shipping company DSD Shipping (DSD) is to pay a total corporate penalty of $2.5 million as a result of convictions in Mobile, AL, for obstructing justice, violating the
MARCH 11, 2016 — U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes reports that a Seattle, WA, grand jury in Seattle has indicted two shipping companies and two engineers for crimes related to the illegal
MARCH 7, 2016 — A Swire Group unit, the China Navigation Co. Pte. Ltd., has been fined $129,500 by the California Air Resources Board for failure by the 25,554 dwt general cargo
According to the Department of Justice, evidence presented during the two-week trial demonstrated that in January 2010, DSD Shipping knew that the oily-water separator aboard its106,541 dwt crude oil tanker Stavanger Blossom was inoperable. In an internal corporate memo, DSD Shipping noted that the device could not properly filter oil-contaminated waste water and stated that individuals “could get caught for polluting” if the problem was not addressed. Rather than repair or replace the oily-water separator, however, DSD Shipping used various methods to bypass the device and force the discharge of oily-wastes into the ocean. During the last months of the vessel’s operation prior to its arrival in the Port of Mobile, the M/T Stavanger Blossom discharged approximately 20,000 gallons of oil-contaminated waste water.
The evidence at trial also established that DSD Shipping employees intentionally discharged fuel oil sludge directly into the ocean. Specifically, crew members cleaned the vessel’s fuel oil sludge tank, removed approximately 264 gallons of sludge and placed the waste oil into plastic garbage bags. After hiding the sludge bags aboard the ship from port authorities in Mexico, defendants Chen and Zhong ordered crew members to move as many as 100 sludge bags to the deck of the vessel. There, Zhong threw the sludge bags overboard directly into the ocean.
The Department of Justice says that DSD Shipping, Dancu, Gao, Chen and Zhong, all attempted to hide these discharges from the U.S. Coast Guard by making false and fictitious entries in the vessel’s oil record book and garbage record book. Further, after arriving in Mobile, Chen and Zhong lied to the U.S. Coast Guard about the discharge of sludge and ordered lower ranking crewmembers to do the same.
At the conclusion of trial, DSD Shipping was convicted of one count of conspiracy, three counts of violating APPS, three counts of obstruction of justice and one count of witness tampering. Defendant Gao was convicted of one count of conspiracy and two counts of obstruction of justice. Defendant Chen was convicted of one count of violating APPS, three counts of obstruction of justice and one count of witness tampering. Finally, Zhong was convicted of two counts of violating APPS, two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of witness tampering.
DSD Shipping could be fined up to $500,000 per count, in addition to other possible penalties. Gao, Chen and Zhong face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the obstruction of justice charges
The case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Mobile, U.S. Coast Guard District Eight, CGIS and the EPA, Criminal Investigations Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Anderson, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama, and the Department of Justice’s Environmental Crimes Section Trial Attorney Shane N. Waller prosecuted the case.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas reports that Chandris, the operator of the the 158, 519 dwt Suezmax tanker M/V Sestrea, which made calls in multiple ports in Texas, pleaded guilty to a violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships for failing to properly maintain an oil record book as required by federal and international law, as well as a violation of making a false statement for making a false entry in the ship’s oil record book.
Shortly following the plea, U.S. District Judge Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos ordered the company to pay an $800,000 criminal fine along with a $200,000 community service payment to the congressionally-established National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. The money will be designated for use in the Flower Garden and Stetson Banks National Marine Sanctuary, headquartered in Galveston, to support the protection and preservation of natural and cultural resources located in and adjacent to the sanctuary.
Chandris was also sentenced to three years probation. As a condition of the probation, all ships Chandris manages and that are involved in transporting crude oil will be forced to comply with an Environmental Compliance Plan.
According to a joint factual statement, on or about Dec. 18, 2014, the chief engineering officer on board the M/V Sestrea acting on behalf of Chandris used a hose to pump fresh water through the Oil Content Meter. Because of this, the meter was “tricked” into sensing that all of the oily bilge water being run through the Oil Water Separator within normal limits.
As a result, the system discharged oily water in excess of 15 parts per million overboard into the sea.
According to court documents, the chief engineer knowingly failed to make the required entries into the oil record book including the fact that oily waste had been discharged directly into the sea. The chief engineer also made false entries in the oil record book to conceal the fact that the pollution control equipment had not been used. The crew members then attempted to conceal the discharge on Dec. 18, 2014, during a Coast Guard boarding at the port in Corpus Christi by providing the falsified oil record book to the boarding crew.
The investigation was conducted by the Coast Guard – Corpus Christi Sector and the Coast Guard Investigative Service in Corpus Christi.
They will also perform fleet-wide inspections and other corrective measures to resolve claims stemming from an October 2014 oil spill in American Samoa and related violations of spill prevention regulations, according to the Department of Justice and the Coast Guard.
In its complaint, filed this week along with the lodging of a consent decree in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, the United States alleges that the companies —Tri-Marine Management Co., Tri-Marine Fishing Management and Cape Mendocino Fishing (Tri-Marine)— are liable for the October 2014 oil spill from their 230-ft commercial tuna fishing vessel, the Capt. Vincent Gann, into Pago Pago Harbor in American Samoa and related violations of the Coast Guard’s spill prevention regulations.
After the Capt. Vincent Gann returned to Pago Pago Harbor from a two-month fishing voyage, it struck two moored fishing vessels while maneuvering in the harbor on Oct. 16, 2014. The hull of the Capt. Vincent Gann was breached during the crash and at least 35 barrels of marine fuel oil flowed out of the bulbous bow into the water.
It is illegal to store fuel in the bulbous bow.
The complaint further alleges the illegal oil storage was done to extend the duration of the fishing voyage and allow storage of a larger catch of fish. The extra fuel oil had been stored in two of the fish holds, but the oil was transferred out of the fish holds to the bulbous bow to make room for storage of tuna in those fish holds.
The complaint also alleges the vessel was equipped with unlawful piping configurations that tied the bilge water system into the fuel system and that the extra fuel originally was loaded into the vessel using an unauthorized method of pumping fuel oil with hoses over the top of the deck into open fish holds.
In addition to payment of the civil penalties, the consent decree requires Tri-Marine to perform inspections and corrective measures across its entire fleet of ten American Samoa-based vessels, including a top-to-bottom review and overhaul of all of the vessels’ oil handling practices, operator certifications, independent audits, increased reporting, and the engagement of a full-time consultant or in-house personnel focused on environmental and maritime compliance.
“This settlement sends a clear message to vessel owners and operators that they cannot put profits ahead of protection of the marine environment or compliance with the law,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden, for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Tri-Marine will pay a significant penalty and conduct meaningful fleet-wide corrective measures for its release of oil into Pago Pago Harbor, a sensitive and valuable marine environment. We are grateful to our partner at the U.S. Coast Guard for their swift and diligent investigation of these violations.”
“Storage of oil in the bulbous bow has long been prohibited and poses obvious and serious risks to a vessel’s crew and the marine environment,” said Captain Shannon Gilreath, Sector Commander of the Coast Guard’s Sector Honolulu, which covers both American Samoa and Hawaii. “This enforcement action reinforces this point and emphasizes safety and pollution prevention measures within this fleet of vessels.”
Section 311(b) of the Clean Water Act makes it unlawful to discharge oil or hazardous substances into or upon the navigable waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines in quantities that may be harmful to the environment or public health. In addition, the Coast Guard has promulgated spill prevention regulations for vessels and other facilities under Section 311(j) of the Act. The penalty paid for this spill and the related spill prevention violations will be deposited in the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund managed by the National Pollution Fund Center. The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund is used to pay for federal response activities and to compensate for damages when there is a discharge or substantial threat of discharge of oil or hazardous substances to waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines.
The proposed consent decree, lodged in the District of Hawaii, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and court review and approval. A copy of the consent decree is available HERE