Environmental Fraud
This archive displays posts tagged as relevant to fraud in environmental programs and policies. You may also be interested in the following pages:
Energy Department Whistleblower Finally Gets Justice
Posted 03/24/17
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Sandra Black did the right thing — and was fired. As a highly rated and decorated employee-concerns manager at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, Black was a channel for staffers to report safety, management and other issues at the nuclear storage complex in South Carolina. But she found some of her reports were rejected by managers more interested in cover-ups. She blew...
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. DOJMarch 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. CAVolkswagen Pleads Guilty in Diesel Emissions Scandal
Posted 03/10/17
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Volkswagen pleaded guilty today to fraud, obstruction of justice and falsifying statements as part of a $4.3 billion settlement reached with the U.S. Justice Department in January over the automaker's diesel emissions scandal. It comes as the automaker strives to put the most expensive ever auto industry scandal behind it.
The September 2015 disclosure that VW intentionally...
Scientists Predict Volkswagen Emissions Fraud will have Life and Death Consequences
Posted 03/7/17
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
According to a report in the New York Times, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimate that 1,200 people in Europe will die prematurely -- each losing as much as a decade of life -- because of excess emissions resulting from the Volkswagen emissions scandal. And that is just from the 2.6 million affected cars sold in Germany alone. The full range of...
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. DOJFebruary 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. DOJFebruary 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. ILIn Their Own Words -- Ruch
Posted 01/25/17