Environmental Fraud

October 21, 2016

Gallia Graeca Shipping Ltd. and Angelakos (Hellas) S.A., the companies that own and operate a Greek shipping vessel, were sentenced to a $1.3 million fine for the dumping of oily waste at sea.  In June, they were found guilty of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, falsifying records in a federal investigation and engaging in a scheme to defraud the United States.  According to the evidence at trial, the defendants' cargo ship named the M/V Gallia Graeca travelled from China to Seattle with an inoperable pollution-control device and  discharged overboard approximately 5,000 gallons of oily bilge water.  The defendants then concealed it from the Coast Guard by making false statements to inspectors and making false statements and omissions in the ship’s oil record book.  DOJ

October 12, 2016

Fred Witmer and Gary Jury, the owners of Indiana biofuel producers Triton Energy LLC and Gen2 Renewable Diesel LLC, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, fraud and false statements for participating in a scheme that generated over $60 million in fraudulent tax credits and EPA renewable fuels credits at Triton.  Although the credits required that the fuel be used domestically for transportation, Witmer admitted selling it for uses that included the production of fire starter logs and asphalt and also for power generation.  As part of their pleas, Witmer and Jury agreed to serve a sentence of 57 months and 30 months, respectively.  DOJ

October 12, 2016

Four Texas companies pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a total of $3.5 million for criminal violations of the Clean Air Act at two oil and chemical processing facilities in Texas.  KTX Limited and KTX Properties Inc. negligently released hazardous air pollutants after a tank explosion at their chemical and petroleum processing facility, which killed one worker at the plant and severely injured two others.  And Crosby LP and Ramsey Properties LP failed to monitor leaks of ground-level ozone (smog) producing air pollutants at their chemical processing facility.  They also admitted that they falsified records and reports to EPA and the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality certifying the facility was complying with the permit requirements.  DOJ

October 6, 2016

Detroit Diesel Corporation agreed to pay a $14 million penalty to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act for selling heavy-duty diesel engines that were not certified by EPA and did not meet applicable emission standards.   Detroit Diesel also agreed to spend $14.5 million on projects to reduce nitrogen oxide and other pollutants, including replacing high-polluting diesel school buses and locomotive engines with models that meet current emissions standards.  DOJ

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