| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 11, 2009 WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN |
SAN FRANCISCO - Brusco Tug & Barge, Inc., a Washington corporation, plead guilty today to one felony count of violating the Clean Water Act, United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced.
According to the plea agreement, Brusco provides a variety of maritime services. As part of its services, Brusco would tow barges containing dredge material from dredge sites to Winter Island, a privately owned 453 acre property located on the western edge of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in Contra Costa County. Brusco was supposed to dispose of the dredge material on land for use in levee rehabilitation and maintenance. Winter Island is managed as a freshwater wetland habitat and duck hunting club. The island is one of the few places in the Bay Area with an identified beneficial use for dredged material. It accepted certain limited types of material pursuant to a permit.
According to the plea agreement, starting in 2003, and continuing to 2007, certain Brusco employees discharged or caused others to discharge dredged material without a permit directly into waters of the United States. Brusco admitted that some of these employees would commit this offense at night or when it was clear that no fishermen or Coast Guard vessels were in view. Brusco also admitted that, in particular, on or about April 17, 2003, a Brusco manager ordered another Brusco employee to open the hull of a barge and discharge approximately 5,000 cubic yards of dredge material (equivalent to approximately 870,000 gallons of material) directly into waters surrounding Winter Island.
Discharge of dredged material is regulated to protect water quality. The ultimate disposal location is determined in part by the level of contaminants in the dredged material and/or the sensitive nature of the receiving habitat. The discharge of dredge materials to surface waters or drainage courses surrounding Winter Island is prohibited. At no time did Brusco have a permit issued pursuant to the Clean Water Act to discharge dredged material into waters surrounding Winter Island.
As part of the plea agreement, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston sentenced Brusco to pay a total monetary payment of $1.5 million, with $750,000 to be paid as a fine, and $250,000 to be paid to the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation to fund environmental projects relating to marine and coastal habitats and watersheds in the Bay Area. The remaining $500,000 will go to fund the creation and implementation of an Environmental Compliance Plan (ECP) at Brusco. The ECP is expected to provide strong environmental protections and serve as a positive example in the tugboat industry. The company has also agreed to continue to cooperate with prosecutions arising out of the wrongful conduct.
Stacey Geis and Tina Hua are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Rayneisha Booth. The prosecution is the result of a three-year investigation by the United States Coast Guard’s Criminal Investigative Service and the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigative Division.
Further Information:
Case #: CR -09-0728 SI
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