Environmental Fraud

August 3, 2023

Food manufacturer FrieslandCampina, which makes dairy products, has agreed to pay more than $2.8 million to settle allegations of violating the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and New York state law through its air emissions and wastewater discharges into the Delaware River.  The company was found to have released excessive amounts of toluene into the air, which affects the human nervous system, immune system, and kidneys and livers.  It also failed to pre-treat wastewater or comply with the state’s rules concerning water runoff.  DOJ

July 25, 2023

Global Metallurgical, Inc. has agreed to pay a $2.6 million civil penalty for emitting air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and particulate matter at its ferroalloy production facility in Ohio.  According to the government, the company has a history of releasing excessive emissions, but also failed to proactively implement pollution control technology when expanding one of its furnaces.  DOJ

July 11, 2023

Fertilizer manufacturer J.R. Simplot Company has agreed to pay a $1.5 million civil penalty and implement waste management measures valued at $150 million in order to resolve allegations of failing to properly identify and manage hazardous waste streams at its Idaho plant, in violation of multiple environmental protection laws, including the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; Clean Air Act; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA); and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know ACT (EPCRA).  Some of the required measures include recovering and reusing certain waste byproducts, ensure proper containment of waste products, replacing aging cooler towers with cooling ponds that would reduce emissions, and fund environmental mitigation work.  DOJ

July 7, 2023

National Grid has agreed to pay $5.38 million in connection with the release of hazardous chemicals into soil and groundwater surrounding a former gas plant in Massachusetts.  The plant operated for a century, ending in 1952, and yielded toxic byproducts such as oils, sludges, and tars, which have gone on to contaminate natural resources in the area.  DOJ

July 6, 2023

Shipping company Clipper Shipping A.S. has been sentenced to pay $1.5 million after admitting that its ship, Motor Tanker (M/T) Clipper Saturn discharged oily bilge water directly overboard while anchored outside Togo, and omitted mention of it from its Oil Record Book, in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.  The ship was required to filter out hazardous elements before disposing of the water at sea.  DOJ

May 17, 2023

BP Products North America Inc. entered a record-setting Clean Air Act Settlement with the DOJ and EPA, agreeing to reduce benzene, other hazardous air pollutants (HAP), and other volatile organic compounds emitted from their Whiting Refinery in Indiana. In addition to spending an estimated $197 million in capital investments to improve air quality surrounding the refinery, BPP will pay civil and stipulated penalties of $40 million, invest another $5 million in a supplemental environmental project to reduce diesel emissions in the surrounding communities, and install 10 air pollutant monitoring stations outside the refinery’s fencing. This is the largest stationary source settlement ever secured under the Clean Air Act. DOJ

May 3, 2023

Zeus Lines Management S.A., chief engineer Roberto Cayabyab Penaflor, and Captain Ervin Mahigne Porquez pleaded guilty to environmental law violations, admitting to discharging oily bilge directly into the ocean while bypassing the onboard pollution prevention equipment and failing to report a hazardous condition on board the oil tanker Galissas. In violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, Penaflor ordered the engine room crew to discharge 9,544 gallons of oily bilge directly into the ocean and instructed them to hide this information from the U.S. Coast Guard during inspections. Additionally, Porquez violated the Ports and Waterways Safety Act for failing to report that the Galissas’ inert gas system was inoperable, causing the vessel’s cargo tanks’ oxygen level to reach as dangerously high as 17%, where 8% is the highest allowed. Zeus will pay $2.25 million total, which includes a community service payment of $562,500 and a fine of $1,687,500.  DOJ, USAO RI

August 26, 2022

Houston-based Amplify Energy Corp. and two of its subsidiaries will plead guilty to violations of the Clean Water Act and pay a criminal penalty of $7.1 million to resolve charges arising from the October, 2021 discharge of approximately 25,000 gallons of crude oil from the San Pedro Bay Pipeline in Long Beach, California.  Defendants overrode multiple lead detection alarms to continue transferring crude oil from offshore facilities for processing, resulting in the leak from a crack in the pipeline.  In addition to the criminal penalty, defendants have agreed to pay approximately $5.8 million to compensate government agencies for response expenses, and implement additional compliance measures.  USAO CD Cal

August 24, 2022

James R. Lee and entities affiliated with him – Lee Oil Company, Inc., Whitesville Producing Corporation, Whitesville Production Corp., Allegro Oil & Gas Inc., and Allegro Investments Corporation – have been ordered to pay a penalty of $2 million for their failures to follow environmental laws with respect to over 400 oil wells they operated in western New York State.  The court found numerous violations, including defendants’ failures to plug over 400 wells and their failures to file required reports.  NY