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Oil Discharge Crimes Land Louisiana Ship-Operator with $2.1M in Fines
A Louisiana-based ship-operating company, Offshore Vessels LLC (OSV), has been sentenced to pay a hefty price for its role in the illegal discharge of oil into the world’s oceans. According to a recent court ruling in U.S. District Court in New Orleans, the company will serve a period of probation for three years and pay a total of $2.1 million in fines and penalties.
At the heart of this case is the company’s guilty plea to knowingly discharging waste oil from one of its vessels, the R/V Laurence M. Gould, in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS). This act allows for the intentional bypassing of mandatory pollution-control devices, putting the world’s oceans at risk.
The R/V Gould, a 2,966 gross ton American-flagged vessel, served as an ice-breaking research vessel for the National Science Foundation on research voyages to and from Antarctica. Crew members knowingly discharged oily wastewater from the bilge tank of the R/V Gould overboard to the high seas, in direct contravention of APPS regulations.
OSV will pay a criminal fine of $1,750,000 and remit an additional $350,000 as community service to the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. The community service funds will be used to study polar water pollution and the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems in the Antarctic region.
‘The criminal fine in this case will serve as a strong deterrent to all vessel companies, American and foreign, against deliberately violating the laws enacted to protect oceans,’ said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources Division. ‘The required payment will provide a means of studying polar water oil pollution and its impact on Antarctica’s fragile marine ecosystem.’
The case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Criminal Investigative Service, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Dorothy Manning Taylor and Senior Trial Attorney Daniel Dooher of the Environment and Natural Resources Division prosecuting the case.
The $2.1 million in fines and penalties serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of environmental crimes. As our world’s oceans continue to face numerous threats, it is imperative that those responsible for polluting our waters are held accountable.
RELATED: Fracking Waste Dumper Lupo Gets 28 Months
Key Facts
- State: Louisiana
- Category: Environmental Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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