C.F. Bean, LLC, Falsely Marking Dredge Operation, Mississippi 2023

Gulfport, Miss - A Louisiana dredging corporation—C.F. Bean, LLC—pleaded guilty today to falsely marking its dredge operation near Deer Island, in violation of applicable regulations designed to warn boaters.

The corporation admitted to improperly marking its dredge operation, which led to the death of Biloxi mariner Mark Barhanovich on September 16, 2012.

The felony information charged that the corporation violated federal regulations that required the dredge barge Bean 20 to be marked to alert mariners that it was engaged in dredge operations and for the company to mark its dredge pipeline with appropriate lights at night and in periods of low visibility.

Bean, through its agents and employees, failed to properly mark and light the Bean 20 and its dredge pipeline, despite repeated incidents of mariners striking the dredge pipeline.

Bean, through its agents and employees, was aware of the repeated incidents and failed to take necessary precautions to prevent them.

U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis praised the efforts of the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Mobile, and the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources for their diligent work in the investigation of this matter.

Bean entered its plea before United States District Judge Sul Ozerden and was ordered to pay the maximum penalty of $500,000 and was placed on five years of probation.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdms/pr/louisiana-dredging-company-pleads-guilty-criminal-offense-relating-death-biloxi-mariner