Archive

September 29, 2016

Chemoil Corporation agreed to retire 65 million renewable fuel credits to resolve alleged violations of the Renewable Fuel Standard program.  The current market value of the credits -- along with an additional 7.7 million renewable identification numbers already retired by Chemoil in the lead up to this settlement -- is more than $71 million.  Chemoil also will pay a $27 million civil penalty under the settlement, the largest in the history of the EPA’s fuel programs.  The RFS program requires exporters to retire RINs for renewable fuel like biodiesel, because the fuel exported is no longer available for blending into United States’ fossil fuel supply and, for that reason, cannot be used to meet the renewable fuel volume mandate established by Congress.  If exporters fail to retire the appropriate number and type of RINs associated with the exported fuel, it artificially inflates the volume of renewable fuel available for blending in this country and the number of RINs available to meet the renewable fuel volume mandate.  According to the government, ensuring exporters comply with the regulations for RIN retirement is critical to the proper functioning and integrity of the RFS program.  DOJ

September 27, 2016

Kirby Inland Marine L.P. agreed to pay $4.9 million in Clean Water Act civil penalties and to implement fleet-wide operational improvements to settle claims stemming from a 4,000-barrel oil spill in the Houston Ship Channel in March 2014.  DOJ

September 21, 2016

ExxonMobil Pipeline Company agreed to pay $12 million in natural resource damages to resolve claims stemming from the July 2011 oil spill into the Yellowstone River.  DOJ

September 9, 2016

Rutgers Organics Corporation agreed to pay an estimated $19 million to complete the cleanup of the Nease Chemical Superfund Site near Salem, Ohio and to pay an additional $500,000 to restore injured natural resources at the site and nearby areas.   The company further agreed to pay an additional $1 million to reimburse federal and state agencies for their past response and assessment costs.  DOJ

August 18, 2016

Harley-Davidson agreed to pay a $12 million civil penalty and to stop selling and to buy back and destroy illegal devices that increase air pollution from their motorcycles and to sell only models of these devices that are certified to meet Clean Air Act emissions standards.  The company also agreed to spend $3 million to mitigate air pollution through a project to replace conventional woodstoves with cleaner-burning stoves in local communities.  According to the government, Harley-Davidson manufactured and sold approximately 340,000 illegal devices, known as “super tuners,” that caused motorcycles to emit higher amounts of certain air pollutants than what the company certified to EPA.  DOJ

August 9, 2016

Chevron Mining Inc. agreed to pay $143 million in cleanup work at the Chevron Questa Mine Superfund site near Questa, New Mexico under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, commonly known as Superfund.  DOJ

August 9, 2016

John Bennett, the former chief executive at Bennett Environmental Inc., a Canada-based company that treats and disposes of contaminated soil, was sentenced to serve 63 months in prison and pay roughly $3.8 million in restitution in connection with the payment of kickbacks to obtain subcontracts at a New Jersey Superfund site overseen by the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers.  According to court documents, Bennett conspired with others at Bennett Environmental to pay kickbacks, that included money wired to a co-conspirator’s shell company, lavish trips and entertainment expenses and personal gifts in an effort to guarantee the award of soil treatment contracts to his company.  As a result, Bennett Environmental was fraudulently awarded tens of millions of dollars in soil treatment and disposal contracts and the company won contracts at higher prices than it otherwise would have bid.  DOJ

July 29, 2016

Honeywell International Inc. and Georgia Power Company have agreed to pay an estimated $28.6 million to clean up the 760-acre saltwater marsh at the LCP Chemicals Superfund Site in Brunswick, Georgia.  Between 1919 and 1994, the LCP Chemicals site hosted a petroleum refinery, an electric power generation facility and various manufacturing operations which led to widespread contamination of the site’s soil, groundwater, surface water and sediment with mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other hazardous substances.  The site was placed on the federal Superfund list in 1996.  DOJ

July 27, 2016

Cement manufacturer Cemex Inc. will invest approximately $10 million to cut emissions of harmful air pollution at five of its cement manufacturing plants in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act.  It will also pay a $1.69 million civil penalty, conduct energy audits at the five plants, and spend $150,000 on energy efficiency projects to mitigate the effects of past excess emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from its facilities.  DOJ

July 20, 2016

Enbridge Energy Limited Partnership and several related Enbridge companies agreed to pay $177 million to resolve claims stemming from its 2010 oil spills in Marshall, Michigan, and Romeoville, Illinois.  Enbridge has agreed to spend at least $110 million to prevent spills and improve operations across nearly 2,000 miles of its pipeline system in the Great Lakes region.  Enbridge will also pay civil penalties totaling $62 million for Clean Water Act violations.  DOJ