Pacific-Gulf Marine fined $1.5 million for Maryland dumping

Pacific-Gulf Marine fined $1.5 million for Maryland dumping New Orleans shipping company Pacific-Gulf Marine Inc. was sentenced Wednesday to pay $1.5 million for deliberately discharging hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil-contaminated bilge waste in Maryland waters.
   U.S. District Judge William M. Nickerson sentenced PGM to pay a $1 million criminal fine, $500,000 for community service and serve three years of probation.
   The company admitted that its fleet of four car carriers had discharged the bilge waste without using an oily water separator, a required pollution prevention device, and instead used secret bypass pipes, sometimes referred to as a 'magic pipe.'
   The company voluntarily disclosed to prosecutors the results of its internal investigation, which revealed incriminating information and evidence of illegal conduct.
   'We will continue to prosecute companies who use our oceans as dumping grounds until those shipping companies clean up their acts,' said David M. Uhlmann, chief of the Environmental Crimes Section of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. 'But this case also demonstrates that companies like PGM can help right their wrongs by cooperating with criminal investigators, and we are hopeful that others will follow PGM's example by identifying misconduct within their organizations and voluntarily disclosing that information to law enforcement officials.'
   Under terms of the plea agreement, half of the $500,000 community service payment will fund environmental projects to improve, restore or study water quality in the Chesapeake Bay, while the other half will fund environmental education for mariners at U.S. maritime schools.