Archive

March 15, 2016

The German shipping companies Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. KG and Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. KG who owned and operated the cargo ship M/V BBC Magellan, pleaded guilty to failure to maintain an accurate oil record book, in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and tampering with witnesses by persuading them to provide false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard concerning a bypass hose on the vessel that was being used to discharge oil into the sea.  The companies were sentenced to pay a total of $1.25 million in fines and a $250,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to fund projects that enhance coastal habitats of the Gulf of Mexico and bolster priority fish and wildlife populations.  In addition, the ship M/V BBC Magellan is banned from doing business in the United States for the next five years.  DOJ

March 7, 2016

Philip Joseph Rivkin (aka Felipe Poitan Arriaga) was sentenced to 121 months in prison and to pay more than $87 million in restitution and forfeit $51 million for generating and selling fraudulent biodiesel credits in the federal renewable fuel program through his companies Green Diesel LLC, Fuel Streamers Inc. and Petro Constructors LLC.  DOJ

February 29, 2016

Lockheed Martin Corporation (and subsidiaries Lockheed Martin Energy Systems and Lockheed Martin Utility Services) agreed to pay $5 million to resolve allegations they violated the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting false claims for payment under their contracts with the Department of Energy to operate the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky.  According to the government, Lockheed Martin violated the RCRA, which establishes how hazardous wastes must be managed, by failing to identify and report hazardous waste produced and stored at the facility, and failing to properly handle and dispose of the waste.  The government alleged that this conduct resulted in false claims for payment under Lockheed Martin’s contracts with the Department of Energy.  The allegations originated in two whistleblower lawsuits filed under the qui tam provision of the False Claims Act by the Natural Resources Defense Council and several former employees of Lockheed Martin who worked at the Paducah facility.  The whistleblowers will collectively receive a whistleblower award of $920,000 from the proceeds of the government's recovery.  DOJ

February 26, 2016

Illinois filed a lawsuit against a Delaware coal company, the American Coal Company, for a coal slurry release near an Illinois mine that resulted in the relocation of at least one resident. The complaint alleges that an injection well located around the village of Raleigh, was leaking unknown quantities of coal slurry, a byproduct of coal preparation. The complaint further alleges the slurry flowed into the nearby Bethel Creek and contaminated soil and groundwater, resulting in at least one resident having to be relocated. IL

July 16, 2014

The SEC charged Natural Blue Resources Inc. with concealing from investors that two lawbreakers actually ran the company.  According to the SEC, the company was to create, acquire, or otherwise invest in environmentally-friendly companies.  What investors didn’t know was that two individuals with prior fraud violations — James E. Cohen and Joseph Corazzi — secretly controlled the operational and management decisions of Natural Blue while calling themselves outside “consultants.”  SEC

January 8, 2016

Joseph Furando was sentenced to 20 years in prison and to pay more than $56 million in restitution for his role in a scheme to fraudulently sell biodiesel incentives.  Furando admitted he and his companies, New Jersey-based Caravan Trading Company and CIMA Green, supplied Indiana-based E‑biofuels with biodiesel that was actually made by other companies and had already been used to claim government tax credits.  Furando realized his profits through the prices he charged E‑biofuels.  Over the course of approximately two years, the defendants fraudulently sold more than 35 million gallons of fuel for a total cost of over $145.5 million.  The defendants realized more than $55 million in gross profits, at the expense of their customers and U.S. taxpayers.  DOJ

December 22, 2015

Chem-Solv Inc. (formerly known as Chemicals & Solvents Inc.) pleaded guilty to illegally storing hazardous waste at its facility in Roanoke, Virginia, and to illegally transporting hazardous waste from that facility to another location.  As a part of the plea agreement, Chem-Solv has agreed to pay a $1 million criminal fine, an additional $250,000 to fund environmental community service projects and another $250,000 to the Environmental Protection Agency to settle related civil proceedings. DOJ

December 3, 2015

The General Electric Company agreed to pay a $2.25 million civil penalty to resolve a complaint alleging violations of federal and state environmental laws in connection with GE’s use of an incinerator at a manufacturing facility it once owned and operated in Waterford, New York.  DOJ

November 24, 2015

Certified Environmental Services, Inc. was sentenced to 5 years of probation, and to make restitution in the amount of roughly $410,000 for negligently releasing asbestos into the ambient air, thereby placing other persons in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury.  DOJ (NDNY)

October 28, 2015

Tri-Marine Management Co., Tri-Marine Fishing Management and Cape Mendocino Fishing agreed to pay $1.05 million in civil penalties and to perform fleet-wide inspections and other corrective measures to resolve claims stemming from an October 2014 oil spill in American Samoa and related violations of spill prevention regulations.  According to the government, the Tri-Marine companies are liable for the October 2014 oil spill from their 230-foot commercial tuna fishing vessel, the Capt. Vincent Gann, into Pago Pago Harbor in American Samoa and related violations of the Coast Guard’s spill prevention regulations.  DOJ