New England ship company admits to dumping oil waste in Gulf of Mexico
On Tuesday, company officials of Eagle Ship Management LLC pleaded guilty to violations of the 1980 Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and was given a fine of more than $1.7 million.
"Today's announcement sends a clear message intended to deter deliberate pollution," stated Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson for Louisiana's Eastern District. "This office will continue to work with our agency partners to enforce the laws that were designed to protect U.S. ports and waters."
In addition, the Stamford-based ESM would be ordered to serve a four-year probation term to include an external company audit by an independent source if court-approved.
The U.S. Coast Guard initiated its investigation after a crew member on the foreign-flagged bulk vessel "Gannet Bulker" sent it a tip on social media in March 2021 soon after the purported incident near the Mississippi River's mouth, according to court documents.
ESM admitted in its guilty plea that Gannet ship officers "engaged in a variety of obstructive acts to conceal the internal flooding that was caused by a botched repair."
Records show the unidentified crewman said the Gannet's engine room flooded and that the ship's oil-contaminated bilge pumper offloaded the toxic waste overnight.
Flooded bilges can pose a number of dangers to a ship and its crew.
Federal officials noted that the incident took place without required safety equipment or proper bookkeeping.
"The criminal conduct involved here was serious, including intentional pollution and a deliberate coverup," said Acting Assistant U.S. Attorney General Adam Gustafson of DOJ's environment and natural resources division.
Meanwhile, the ship's unidentified captain was prosecuted and later sentence to a year and a day behind bars for his role in the incident.
Officials stated that among the obstructive acts was retaliation against a whistleblower with a known identity to the company. They added that Gannet's senior officer and other crew members lied to Coast Guard officials, destroyed control room information as evidence and "created false and backdated personnel evaluations intended to discredit the whistleblower."
It's the second known similar instance in recent years of a ship offloading oil into the waters off the coast of New Orleans.
In September, the captain of a Turkish ship was given eight months in prison and his company fined $2 million after crew, likewise, rid their carrier of oil waste into open water.
Sentencing for Connecticut's Eagle Ship Management is scheduled for October 16.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Alleged killer dad Luciano Frattolin didn't like ‘being tied down' by daughter, former friend says
Alleged killer dad Luciano Frattolin didn't like being 'tied down' by his young daughter, whom he sometimes only saw once a year, according to a former friend. Frattolin, 45, who is charged with murdering his 9-year-old daughter Melina while on vacation in New York last week, spent most of his time in his birth country of Ethiopia, where he has stakes in a mine and hotel construction, the ex-associate told the Montreal Gazette. 'He loved his daughter, but he didn't like the idea of being tied down,' said the friend, who knew Frattolin when they both lived in Ethiopia. Advertisement 3 Police arrested Luciano Frattolin after he claimed his daughter Melina had been abducted. Essex County Sheriff's Office Melina lived in Canada with her mom, who split with Frattolin when he cheated, according to the former pal, who also fell out with him over a deal where 'some of the funds disappeared.' Frattolin was said to live in Canada but his 'real connection to Montreal was his daughter and his ex-partner, but he didn't have any real connections to Montreal,' said the insider, who asked not to remain anonymous. Advertisement 'From what [Frattolin] said, he truly loved [Melina]. He would visit at least once a year,' the friend said. 3 New York police released an image of Frattolin driving with his daughter on I-87. NYS Police Frattolin is a 'prominent' businessman in Ethiopia, where he was born to an Ethiopian mother and Italian father, the friend said. He founded an iron ore mine there in 2019 along with a Chinese-based company and secured a 20-year contract, according to a report published online and seen by the Montreal Gazette. But tragedy struck that same year when he was assaulted and suffered permanent damage to one of his eyes, the former friend claimed. Advertisement Melina's mother came to visit him in Ethiopia while he was recovering — and found he was seeing another woman, according to the pal. 'That is why they separated,' he said. 3 Melina Frattolin was found dead in a shallow pond after her father reported her missing. Instagram/Luciano Frattolin Frattolin hinted in a since-deleted bio that an 'unfortunate event' in 2019 that he said 'severely affected his well-being' and required a 'long and arduous' road to recovery. Advertisement The friend claimed Frattolin had money woes that forced him to leave Ethiopia for long stretches at a time, often traveling to Italy. 'He had a lot of bills, so any time things were about to blow up, he would travel, and go back [to Ethiopia] once things cooled down,' he said. Follow The Post's coverage on Melina Frattolin Frattolin maintained a luxury lifestyle and was 'very image conscious,' wearing expensive clothes and watches and never flying coach, as evidenced on his Instagram account, the former friend said. 'He was one of the first people to bring a Porsche into Ethiopia. He also had a Land Cruiser, the friend said. 'He had two [luxury] cars, so in Ethiopia, he would be considered a very well-off person.' Frattolin shared a video of his Porsche on his Instagram showing him driving the luxury car over the dirt roads of the East African country alongside an Ethiopian tribesperson. Frattolin pleaded not guilty to murder at a court in Ticonderoga, upstate New York, on Monday. He is due back in court on Friday.
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Fox News
Sen. Chris Murphy slams ICE, says allowing masked officers will enable 'depravity' and 'vigilantism'
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., condemned the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement tactics Tuesday, warning that plans to expand Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and allow agents to operate in masks could lead to "vigilantism" and "depravity." Speaking on "The Bulwark" podcast, Murphy criticized the administration's push to hire more ICE officers to execute mass deportations—a centerpiece of President Donald Trump's immigration agenda. He argued that such rapid expansion, coupled with the anonymity provided by masks, could attract undesirable candidates and create dangerous conditions for misconduct. Murphy said that officers wearing masks can be "just a cover for illegality and for brutality, because if nobody can identify the law enforcement officer that's beating the hell out of an immigrant, then everybody can get away with it." The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has raised concerns about the doxxing of ICE agents, claiming attacks have skyrocketed by 830% since January. The DHS has called on the Justice Department to prosecute anyone suspected of "doxxing" ICE agents by posting agents' photos and personal information online or in public. Murphy said he wants federal agents to be treated with respect but warned that as Trump beefs up ICE by hiring more officers, "There is an element of folks who are going to be drawn to these jobs that see it as a bonus that they can get away with masked vigilantism." "As you hire into ICE so quickly, the standard for who you hire is going to go down and down and down," he said. "If ICE decides to hire 10,000 people this year, man, there are going to be some pretty unsavory people who get hired, and the masks allow them to sort of get away with a level of depravity that none of us should accept." He compared the hiring pace to the Border Patrol, which, he claimed, struggles to find even 1,000 people a year who meet their criteria. Bulwark host Tim Miller suggested that immigration raids by masked officers seem "pretty risky" in a heavily armed country like the United States, and Murphy offered a theory. "One of my colleagues was speculating that the reason that these very high-profile raids are happening in a place like California and not happening, at least as visibly, in places like Arizona, is because of the worry that in a community with folks who have concealed weapons, it's going to lead to a shootout," he said. "And that shouldn't ever be the reason why you aren't enforcing the law, that you're worried you're going to get shot at," he added.
Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Washington Post
‘Impostor' nurse used aliases to fraudulently treat patients, officials say
Pennsylvania police say a women posed as a nurse to illegally treat patients in facilities across the state in an elaborate racketeering scheme that saw her use at least 10 different aliases. Shannon Nicole Womack was charged with identity theft, forgery, endangering the welfare of care and multiple other charges, Pennsylvania State Police said. She is also suspected of impersonating four nurses from southern states and using their identification to secure short-term nursing stints, police said, adding that their investigation identified approximately 20 aliases and seven different Social Security numbers associated with her. The alleged scheme began in 2020 and has continued since then in states ranging 'from Georgia all the way to Connecticut,' State Police spokesman Rocco Gagliardi said Tuesday in a news conference. Georgia lists Womack on its 'Nursing Impostor Alerts' system, which states that Womack is 'neither licensed as a registered or practical nurse in Georgia nor has she applied for licensure.' Womack, whose alleged aliases included 'Shannon Abiola-Parham' and 'Shannon Nicole Lawson,' was able to secure nursing jobs 'by submitting fraudulently signed documents' to staffing agencies and also by creating a false limited liability company to 'deploy herself to multiple jobs,' according to Pennsylvania State Police. She used the aliases to pose as a licensed practical nurse, registered nurse and registered nurse supervisor at rehabilitation and nursing home facilities across Pennsylvania, the state police said. The Washington Post could not immediately identify an attorney for Womack early Wednesday. Authorities in Pennsylvania said they began investigating Womack in April, after stopping her as she was driving on Interstate 79 in Washington County. During the traffic stop, Womack gave state troopers fake identification, which led them back to her aliases and Social Security numbers, Gagliardi said. Authorities executed a search warrant on the car and found 'multiple forms of identification, prescription medications prescribed to different victims, medical documents, and various pieces of medical equipment,' police said. According to the criminal complaint against her, Womack was already suspected of stealing opioid medications from patients in some of the facilities she worked in western Pennsylvania between October and April, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. All of the facilities had placed her on their 'do not retain' lists after she worked for them for short stints, the outlet said. In Tuesday's news conference, Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh said Womack committed a 'vile act' by 'not only taking advantage of older citizens in this commonwealth, but them not receiving the care that they need, nor the medication that they need, because of someone that puts themselves in this position to defraud them.' Walsh said the charges filed against Womack this week related to the crimes she is alleged to have committed in Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania Observer-Reporter. But Womack is also wanted in Georgia, Indiana, New Jersey and Tennessee on related charges, the outlet said. Womack is being held at Washington County jail and is awaiting a hearing scheduled for next week on the charges tied to her April traffic stop, as well as a preliminary hearing scheduled for next month on the remaining charges, according to the Observer-Reporter.
