American Commercial Lines, Inc., Clean Water Act Violations, Illinois 2014

ILLINOIS – Barge Operator Pays United States Over $800,000 In Civil Penalties

In a shocking case of environmental neglect, Indiana-based American Commercial Lines, Inc. (ACL), and its wholly-owned subsidiary, ACBL Transportation Services, LLC (ACBLTS), have paid the United States $805,440.00 in civil penalties to resolve Clean Water Act (CWA) violations, Acting United States Attorney James L. Porter announced.

At the heart of the matter are repeated discharges of sewage and polluted wastewater to the Ohio River from their barge cleaning facility in Cairo, Illinois, in violation of their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits. The wastewater exceeded permit limits for four separate pollutants: biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, total residual chlorine, and fecal coliform. The complaint states that the companies violated their allotted limits for daily maximum levels and/or monthly averages on at least 554 separate occasions.

Reports submitted by ACL and ACBLTS to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency show that in many instances, the violations were egregious. On 16 occasions, the amount of fecal coliform in ACL’s discharges measured at least 100 times higher than the permit limit. During another month, the concentration of total residual chlorine in the wastewater rose to more than 700 times the permit limit. Most of the polluted water that ACL and ACBLTS discharged to the Ohio River came from two office septic systems and a marine sanitation device. A barge cleaning station also contributed to the CWA violations described in the complaint.

The objective of the Clean Water Act is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters. In reaching the settlement figure, the United States took into account the seriousness of the violations and the impact they had on the environment, as well as the corrective measures the companies eventually took to eliminate future violations and bring their Cairo facility into compliance.

Defendant: American Commercial Lines, Inc. and ACBL Transportation Services, LLC

Criminal Charges: Clean Water Act (CWA) violations

City and State: Cairo, Illinois

Exact Date: Not specified, but the violations occurred from June 2007 to February 2014

Sentence or Outcome: Paid $805,440.00 in civil penalties

Dollar Amount: $805,440.00

Defendant Name: American Commercial Lines, Inc. and ACBL Transportation Services, LLC

Legal Entity: Yes

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