Shipper pays $7.25M fine for ocean dumping
By WILLIAM McCALL Associated Press WriterPORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A federal judge has approved a $7.25 million fine against an Egyptian shipping company that dumped oil sludge at sea, the largest penalty for dumping ever assessed in the Pacific Northwest. National Navigation Co. pleaded guilty to 15 counts of violating pollution laws in Oregon, Washington and Louisiana, and trying to cover it up. The company also agreed to a plan to audit its ships for environmental compliance and a court-appointed monitor to track its operations. The fine could have been higher if National Navigation managers had not immediately admitted the violations. Based in Cairo, the largest international shipping company in Egypt did not dispute most of the evidence but blamed the violations on some chief engineers. "We were deceived by some of our chief engineers," said Capt. Hassan El-Sherbiny, the general manager of marine and technical affairs for the company. Sherbiny also told U.S. District Judge Garr King during the company's sentencing on Tuesday that National Navigation is "a good and reputable company" that is "keen to comply" with environmental regulations. King said he appreciated the cooperation and "immediate action" of company managers but warned them "this is a crime that is taken very seriously in this jurisdiction." National Navigation also was placed on probation for four years as King cautioned "you will be monitored very carefully." The record fine resulted from a Coast Guard inspection that found oil sludge in a valve that should carry only clean water aboard the M/V Wadi Al Arish. According to logbooks, the crew had incinerated the sludge, but inspectors found the ship's incinerator had not been used. Identical log entries showed the crew transferred exactly the same amounts of gooey oil sludge to an incinerator the same way time after time. A Coast Guard investigation revealed the ship had been illegally dumping waste oil into the ocean since at least 1999. Senior managers have already apologized for the resulting damage to the environment. Ocean watchdog groups say illegal dumping may be so widespread that it exceeds the volume of even big oil spills like the Exxon Valdez wreck. Some Coast Guard inspectors suspect a quarter or more of all ships may dump oil overboard. Robert Weaver, the attorney for the company, gave Assistant U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton a check for the fine that Holton delivered to the court clerk as the hearing ended. About a dozen Coast Guard officers attended the hearing, and King praised them for their investigation. There were 12 counts filed in Oregon, two in Washington state and one in Louisiana. All were felonies. (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) |
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