FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         ENR
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1996                      (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888
                                 
                                                    GUILLERMO GIL
                                                    U.S. Attorney
                                                   (809) 766-5656

  THREE CORPORATIONS FINED $75 MILLION FOR PUERTO RICO OIL SPILL
   LARGEST FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMINAL FINE IN U.S. HISTORY

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A federal judge in San Juan, Puerto Rico
fined three corporations a total of $75 million for their role in
a January 1994 oil spill that spewed more than 750,000 gallons of
oil into the waters off Puerto Rico and onto its popular
Escambron Beach at the height of the tourist season.  The
criminal fine is the largest ever for an environmental crime and
comes after the April conviction of the corporations and a top
manager for causing the oil spill.  

     The corporations, sentenced today by U.S. District Judge
Hector M. Laffitte, are part of a group of 50 corporate entities
controlled by the Frank family of New York.  The Frank companies,
which have a lengthy history of environmental violations, were
organized into a complex web that allowed the family to shield
its assets from criminal fines.  In this case, however, Judge
Laffitte placed the assets of all the Frank companies under his
supervision, in order to prevent the assets from being dissipated
or hidden.

     In sentencing the defendants, Judge Laffitte said that the
"recklessly negligent" conduct of the companies had produced a
"catastrophic event."  Judge Laffitte noted that the "marine
ecosystem of northern Puerto Rico will probably never recover
from the effects of the oil spill."  Judge Laffitte sentenced
Bunker Group Puerto Rico, Bunker Group Incorporated, and New
England Marine Services to each pay a $25 million fine and
complete a five year term of corporate probation.  Pedro Rivera,
the general manager of Bunker Group Puerto Rico, will be
sentenced in a separate proceeding tomorrow. 

     On April 25, 1996, a federal jury convicted the companies of
sending out an unseaworthy vessel, negligently discharging oil, 
and failing to notify the Coast Guard that a hazardous condition 
existed on the vessel.  On the same day, Rivera was convicted of
sending out an unseaworthy vessel and failing to notify the Coast
Guard.  Two other individuals, the Captain and the First Mate,
had previously pleaded guilty. 
     
     The Puerto Rico oil spill occurred during the night of
January 7, 1994, after a faulty towing cable broke while the
Emily S tugboat was towing the Morris J. Berman tank barge from
San Juan to the island of Antigua.  The barge was loaded with
nearly 35,000 barrels of Number 6 fuel oil.  (A barrel contains
about 42 gallons.)  The federal government spent $90 million
cleaning up the spill and compensating victims.  

     According to evidence introduced at trial, on the night of
the spill, a towing cable from the Emily S to the barge broke and
Captain Roy A. McMichael, Jr. made an improper emergency repair
in which he neglected to use all the parts necessary to fix the
cable even though he had them on board.  With one exception, the
crew of the Emily S went to sleep and the towing cable snapped
once again.  The barge ran aground near Escambron Beach spewing
about 750,000 gallons of oil into coastal waters and onto the
beach.

     Captain McMichael, who testified during the trial, pleaded
guilty to violating the Clean Water Act in November 1994 on
charges that he negligently caused the oil spill.  The First
Mate, Victor Martinez, who was supposed to be on watch, also
pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act.  

     "This $75 million sentence will never repay the damage done
to our environment, but we are pleased that this fine will serve
to send a strong message to corporations and others that
environmental offenses will be dealt with severely." said U.S.
Attorney Guillermo Gil.  

     "An accident waiting to happen is no accident at all.  The
sentence in this case sends a strong message that those who
handle hazardous materials have a duty to protect the public
health and the environment," said Lois J. Schiffer, Assistant
Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's
Environment and Natural Resources Division.

     "This is just one more sad example of the gross negligence
practiced by the Frank family and their companies.  In just a few
short moments, these companies were responsible for damaging a
coral environment that may never recover," said Jeanne M. Fox,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 Administrator.  "To
save the cost of a new cable, they not only caused irreparable 
damage to these living organisms, but they robbed Puerto Rico of
tourist revenues during the critical peak winter months and cost
the federal government over $90 million to clean up the mess they
created."

     "The message I'd like to send to those who jeopardize our
sensitive areas is that careless actions and failure to abide by
our environmental laws will not be tolerated," said Admiral
Robert E. Kramek, Commandant of the Coast Guard.  "We will take
action against you -- and the courts are going to prosecute you. 
This verdict represents the commitment Secretary Pena and I made
to aggressively enforce our nation's environmental standards."

     Mr. Gil and Ms. Schiffer commended the Coast Guard
Investigative Service, the EPA Criminal Investigation Division
and the FBI for their outstanding work in jointly investigating
the case.  The trial was prosecuted by Charles A. DeMonaco and
Michael J. Woods of the Justice Department's Environmental Crime
Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Miguel A. Pereira of the U.S.
Attorney's Office for the District of Puerto Rico.     
  
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