{"id":28191,"date":"2016-12-01T14:41:46","date_gmt":"2016-12-01T22:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=28191"},"modified":"2016-12-01T14:41:46","modified_gmt":"2016-12-01T22:41:46","slug":"princess-cruise-lines-to-pay-record-40-million-for-polluting-seas-with-contaminated-oil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=28191","title":{"rendered":"Princess Cruise Lines to Pay Record $40 Million for Polluting Seas with Contaminated Oil"},"content":{"rendered":"

FLORIDA<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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\"courthouse\"Princess Cruise Lines will pay the largest-ever criminal penalty for polluting the seas by dumping oil contaminated waste into the ocean. \u00a0<\/span>Princess Cruise plead\u00a0guilty to seven felony charges stemming from its deliberate pollution of the seas and intentional acts to cover it up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Princess will pay a record $40 million penalty related to illegal dumping of oil contaminated waste from the Caribbean Princess cruise ship.<\/span><\/p>\n

Princess, headquartered in Santa Clarita, California, is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation, which owns and operates multiple cruise lines and collectively comprises the world\u2019s largest cruise company.\u00a0 Carnival is headquartered in Miami.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe pollution in this case was the result of more than just bad actors on one ship,\u201d said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden.\u00a0 \u201cIt reflects very poorly on Princess\u2019s culture and management.\u00a0 This is a company that knew better and should have done better.\u00a0 Hopefully the outcome of this case has the potential not just to chart a new course for this company, but for other companies as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of the plea agreement with Princess, cruise ships from eight Carnival cruise line companies \u2014 Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line N.V., Seabourn Cruise Line Ltd. and AIDA Cruises \u2014 will be under a court supervised Environmental Compliance Program for five years. \u00a0The Compliance Program will require independent audits by an outside entity and a court appointed monitor, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

PRINCESS VISITED SEVERAL U.S. PORTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"princess\"The charges to which Princess will plead guilty concern the Caribbean Princess cruise ship which visited various U.S. ports in Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands and Virginia.<\/span><\/p>\n

If approved by the court, $10 million of the $40 million criminal penalty will be devoted to community service projects to benefit the maritime environment; $3 million of the community service payments will go to environmental projects in South Florida; $1 million will be earmarked for projects to benefit the marine environment in United Kingdom waters, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

BRITISH MARITIME TRIGGERED INVESTIGATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

The U.S. investigation was initiated after information was provided to the U.S. Coast Guard by the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency \u00a0indicating that a newly hired engineer on the Caribbean Princess reported that a so-called \u201cmagic pipe\u201d had been used on Aug. 23, 2013, to illegally discharge oily waste off the coast of England.<\/span><\/p>\n

The whistleblowing engineer quit his position when the ship reached Southampton, England. \u00a0The chief engineer and senior first engineer ordered a cover-up, including removal of the magic pipe and directing subordinates to lie, officials said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The MCA shared evidence with the U.S. Coast Guard, including before and after photos of the bypass used to make the discharge and showing its disappearance.<\/span><\/p>\n

The U.S. Coast Guard conducted an examination of the Caribbean Princess upon its arrival in New York City, New York, on Sept. 14, 2013, during which certain crew members continued to lie in accordance with orders they had received from Princess employees.<\/span><\/p>\n

COURT EVIDENCE SPELL OUT VIOLATIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"criminal_justice_jurisprudenceAccording to papers filed in court, the Caribbean Princess had been making illegal discharges through bypass equipment since 2005, one year after the ship began operations.<\/span><\/p>\n

The discharge on Aug. 26, 2013, involved approximately 4,227 gallons, 23 miles off the coast of England within the country\u2019s Exclusive Economic Zone.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time as the discharge, engineers simultaneously ran clean seawater through the ship\u2019s overboard equipment in order to create a false digital record for a legitimate discharge, according to court papers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Caribbean Princess used multiple methods over the course of time to pollute the seas. \u00a0Prior to the installation of the bypass pipe used to make the discharge off the coast of England, a different unauthorized valve was used.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Department of Justice investigative team conducted a consensual boarding of the ship in Houston, Texas, on March 8, 2014, they found the valve that crew members had described. \u00a0When it was removed by Princess at the department\u2019s request, it was found to contain black oil, officials said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0OTHER ILLEGAL PRACTICES UNCOVERED<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"U.S.In addition to the use of a magic pipe to circumvent the oily water separator and oil content monitor required pollution prevention equipment, the U.S. investigation uncovered two other illegal practices which were found to have taken place on the Caribbean Princess as well as four other Princess ships \u2013 Star Princess, Grand Princess, Coral Princess and Golden Princess.<\/span><\/p>\n

One practice was to open a salt water valve when bilge waste was being processed by the oily water separator and oil content monitor. \u00a0The purpose was to prevent the oil content monitor from otherwise alarming and stopping the overboard discharge.<\/span><\/p>\n

This was done routinely on the Caribbean Princess in 2012 and 2013. \u00a0The second practice involved discharges of oily bilge water originating from the overflow of gray-water tanks into the machinery space bilges.<\/span><\/p>\n

This waste was pumped back into the gray-water system rather than being processed as oily bilge waste. \u00a0Neither of these practices were truthfully recorded in the oil record book as required.<\/span><\/p>\n

All of the bypassing took place through the gray-water system which was discharged when the ship was more than four nautical miles from land. \u00a0As a result, discharges within U.S. waters were likely.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe conduct being addressed today is particularly troubling because the Carnival family of companies has a documented history of environmental violations, including in the Southern District of Florida,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Wilfredo Ferrer.\u00a0 \u201cOur hope is that all companies abide by regulations that are in place to protect our natural resources and prevent environmental harm.\u00a0 Today\u2019s case should send a powerful message to other companies that the U.S. government will continue to enforce a zero tolerance policy for deliberate ocean dumping that endangers the countless animals, marine life and humans who rely on clean water to survive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This shows just how well the U.K. and U.S. can work together on these kind of cases,\u201d said Jeremy Smart, head of enforcement at the Maritime & Coastguard Agency of the United Kingdom. \u00a0\u201cIt also sends a clear message to the industry that this kind of pollution practice will not be tolerated anywhere in the world. \u00a0It also shows that we will always take any information we are given by those who report such practices to us very seriously and will act upon it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the criminal information, a plea agreement and joint factual statement were filed in court Thursday in Miami.<\/span><\/p>\n

Photographs of some of the evidence provided by the whistleblower and obtained by the government were also filed in federal court. \u00a0In the factual statement, Princess also admitted to the following:<\/span><\/p>\n