American Commercial Lines, Inc., Water Pollution, Illinois 2007

A federal complaint has been filed against American Commercial Lines, Inc. (ACL), one of the largest marine transportation services companies in the United States, alleging that the company repeatedly and consistently violated its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits at its facility in Cairo, Illinois.

According to the complaint, ACL discharged sewage and polluted wastewater into the Ohio River from June 2007 to February 2014, exceeding permit limits for four separate pollutants: biological oxygen demand, total suspended solids, total residual chlorine, and fecal coliform. The company is charged with committing at least 554 Clean Water Act (CWA) violations over the span of almost seven years.

Reports submitted by ACL to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency show that many of the alleged violations were egregious. The complaint notes over 50 occasions from 2007 to 2013 when ACL exceeded its daily maximum limit for fecal coliform by a factor of nine or more, including at least 16 occasions when the concentration of fecal coliform measured 100 times higher than the permit limit.

During one reporting period in September 2009, total residual chlorine – a pollutant that can be toxic to fish and other aquatic life even at low concentrations – allegedly registered more than 700 times the permit limit.

The complaint seeks civil penalties of up to $37,500 per violation day against both ACL and its subsidiary ACBL Transportation Services, LLC. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nathan D. Stump and Nicholas J. Biersbach, in concert with the Environment and Natural Resources Division, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

The Environmental Protection Agency has filed a complaint against American Commercial Lines, Inc. and its subsidiary ACBL Transportation Services, LLC on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, alleging that the two companies have violated their NPDES permits at their facility in Cairo, Illinois.

Defendant: American Commercial Lines, Inc.
Crime: Repeatedly and consistently violating National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits at their facility in Cairo, Illinois.
City and state: Cairo, Illinois
Exact date: June 2007 to February 2014
Sentence or outcome: Civil penalties of up to $37,500 per violation day.
Dollar amounts: Up to $37,500 per violation day.

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