Archive

July 11, 2017

Four paint companies have agreed to settle FTC charges that they deceptively promoted products as emission-free or containing zero volatile organic compounds, including during and immediately after application. Some promotions also made explicit safety claims regarding babies, children, pregnant women, and other sensitive populations. However, the FTC alleged, the companies had no evidence to support these claims. The four companies, Benjamin Moore & Co., Inc., ICP Construction Inc., YOLO Colorhouse, LLC, and Imperial Paints, LLC, have agreed to orders that would bar them from making unqualified emission-free and VOC-free claims unless, at all times during application and after, both content in and emissions from their paints are actually zero, or emissions are at “trace levels,” as defined in the orders. FTC

June 20, 2017

Egyptian-based Egyptian Tanker Company and Singapore-based Thome Ship Management pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a $1.9 million penalty for violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and for obstruction of justice for covering up the illegal dumping of oil-contaminated bilge water and garbage from one of their ships into the sea. DOJ

April 19, 2017

Princess Cruise Lines Ltd. was sentenced to pay a $40 million penalty related to illegal dumping of oil contaminated waste and falsification of official logs in order to conceal the discharges.  It was the largest-ever penalty for crimes involving deliberate vessel pollution.  The court also ordered that a $1 million whistleblower reward be awarded to the British engineer who first reported the illegal discharges to the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency, which in turn provided the evidence to the U.S. Coast Guard. DOJ

March 30, 2017

Pennsylvania announced a $30.4 million settlement with Volkswagen for environmental damages caused by a device the automaker placed on its cars which allowed excessive pollutants to escape into the air in violation of federal and state laws. The settlement with Volkswagen is part of a $157 million overall settlement agreement between the automaker and the Attorneys General of 10 states, including Pennsylvania. In an earlier settlement with Volkswagen for consumer protection law violations, the automaker agreed to pay an additional $23.1 million in civil penalties and costs to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Office of Attorney General, and two related state funds. All told, Volkswagen will be paying $53.5 million to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and its agencies under these two settlements for consumer protection and environmental violations. PA, MA

March 10, 2017

Volkswagen AG pleaded guilty to three felony counts charging: (1) conspiracy to defraud the United States, engage in wire fraud, and violate the Clean Air Act; (2) obstruction of justice; and (3) importation of merchandise by means of false statements.  As part of the plea, the company agreed to pay a $2.8 billion penalty as a result of the company’s decade-long scheme to sell diesel vehicles containing software designed to cheat on U.S. emissions tests. DOJ

March 14, 2017

The Contra Costa Superior Court ordered a payment of $3 million in civil penalties in the case People v. Golden Gate Petroleum, et al. The penalties are to be paid by the defendants, the owners and operators of underground storage tank systems at retail gasoline stations in several counties in Northern California: Golden Gate Petroleum, Bay Area/Diablo Petroleum Company, Dennis O’Keefe, and Westgate Petroleum Company, Inc. The defendants had been sued in 2007 for violations of environmental protection laws at their retail service stations. Those violations included failing to comply with requirements related to monitoring, inspection, and maintenance of underground storage tanks and underground storage tank systems; tampering with or disabling leak detection devices; and improperly handling hazardous wastes and hazardous substances. The action was settled in 2011, and the Defendants were ordered to pay $3 million in penalties and costs and to comply with specific environmental protection requirements. The Contra Costa Superior Court suspended an additional $3 million in penalties if the Defendants complied with those requirements. The Defendants did not comply. CA

February 23, 2017

Houston-based Wood Group PSN Inc. was ordered to pay $7 million for falsely reporting over several years that personnel had performed safety inspections on offshore facilities in the Gulf of Mexico in the Western District of Louisiana, and $1.8 million for negligently discharging oil into the Gulf of Mexico in violation of the Clean Water Act after an explosion on an offshore facility.  The company was also ordered to pay $700,000 for community service projects in the areas where the criminal conduct took place.  DOJ

February 17, 2017

Pharmacia LLC (formerly known as Monsanto), Solutia Inc., ExxonMobil Oil Corp. and Cerro Flow Products have agreed as responsible parties to spend roughly $14.8 million to clean up six former waste disposal sites that comprise the Sauget Area 1 Superfund Site in Sauget, St. Clair County, Illinois.  DOJ

February 14, 2017

Illinois announced a settlement with Delaware-based BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) following a train derailment that caused a crude oil spill near the city of Galena. The settlement resolves environmental concerns that arose in 2015 when a BNSF train derailed, spilling a large amount of crude oil that ignited near Galena, Ill. Following the spill, Madigan’s office obtained an agreed court order to require BNSF to clean up the crash site and monitor it for crude oil contamination. To clean up the site, BNSF spent more than $10.5 million, including reimbursements to state and local authorities for costs incurred. BNSF has continued to monitor the site, and to date, there is no evidence of groundwater contamination. IL

January 19, 2017

Meadowvale Dairy, LLC -- which operates multiple concentrated animal feeding operations in Rock Valley, Iowa -- agreed to pay a civil penalty of $160,000 for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act related to mismanagement of animal wastes. The company also agreed to take actions to prevent illegal discharges to Iowa streams which EPA estimates will result in a reduction of approximately 200,000 pounds of pollutants discharged annually into Iowa streams. DOJ