Archive

January 14, 2015

Florida-based auction house Elite Estate Buyers Inc. (doing business as Elite Decorative Arts) and the company’s president and owner, Christopher Hayes, pleaded guilty to an illegal wildlife trafficking and smuggling conspiracy in which the auction house sold rhinoceros horns and objects made from rhino horn, elephant ivory and coral that were smuggled from the US to China. Hayes and Elite admitted to helping smugglers traffic in endangered and protected species and falsifying records and shipping documents to avoid the scrutiny of the US Fish and Wildlife Service and US Customs and Border Protection. DOJ

January 13, 2015

The DOJ and EPA announced a proposed settlement with Pechiney Plastic Packaging Inc. (Pechiney), Albéa Americas Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Citigroup Inc., and Rexam Beverage Can Company regarding the cleanup of the Pohatcong Valley Groundwater Contamination Superfund Site in New Jersey. Under the proposed settlement, Pechiney will have primary responsibility for cleaning up contaminated soil and groundwater at the site. In addition, EPA will receive approximately $29.5M for certain past costs. Pechiney will also perform current and future cleanup work estimated to cost $62.5M. DOJ

January 7, 2015

Randy Jones, a former corrosion coordinator for Shell Pipeline Company L.P.pleaded guilty to failing to conduct bi-monthly voltage readings and an annual survey of a pipeline used to transport jet fuel in violation of the Pipeline Safety Act (PSA) and making a false statement to the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA). The violations were in connection with a pipeline owned by Shell that delivered commercial aviation jet fuel to General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In January 2012 a hole was discovered in the pipeline at Mitchell Airport releasing approximately 9,000 gallons of jet fuel and costing approximately $19.3 million in cleanup costs. DOJ

November 17, 2014

New York environmental remediation firm Sevenson Environmental Services Inc. agreed to pay more than $2.7M to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Act by accepting kickbacks, rigging bids and passing inflated charges to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in connection with work performed at the Federal Creosote Superfund Site in Manville, New Jersey. According to the government, Sevenson solicited and accepted more than $1.6M in kickbacks from six companies in exchange for the award of subcontracts for work at the Federal Creosote Site. DOJ

November 3, 2014

South Korea’s top two automakers Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corporation agreed to pay a $100 million civil penalty to settle charges they violated the Clean Air Act by selling more than one million vehicles that will emit roughly 4.75 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in excess of what they certified to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is the largest civil penalty in Clean Air Act history.Whistleblower Insider

August 27, 2014

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) agreed to pay $1.3 million and take corrective actions to settle government charges of releasing harmful levels of hazardous substances in the Kanawha River in West Virginia in violation of the Clean Air Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. DOJ August

August 26, 2014

ExxonMobil Pipeline Company (ExxonMobil) agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle charges it violated the Clean Water Act stemming from a 2012 crude oil spill from ExxonMobil’s “North Line” pipeline near Torbert, Louisiana. DOJ

July 16, 2014

North Carolina based recycling business, P&W Waste Oil Services, was ordered to pay restitution of more than $21M for clean-up costs associated with the environmental contamination caused by the company’s unlawful handling and dilution of used oil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). DOJ

April 3, 2014

Kerr-McGee Corp. and its parent Anadarko Petroleum agreed to pay $5.15B to settle charges that Kerr-McGee fraudulently conveyed assets to evade liability for environmental clean-up at contaminated sites around the country. It is the DOJ’s largest environmental enforcement recovery on record.DOJ

December 15, 2015

Comcast Cable Communications LLC agreed to pay a total of $25.95 million in penalties and other amounts to settle claims by the State of California that it unlawfully disposed of both hazardous waste (primarily e-waste such as remote controls, routers, etc.) and sensitive customer information. CA