Evergreen International pays $25 million pollution penalty
U.S. Attorneys from five judicial districts said Monday the government has brought criminal charges against Evergreen International, S.A., 'one of many Evergreen-related companies involved in the container business,' the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.
Under terms of a plea agreement, Evergreen agreed to pay $25 million, which the Justice Department described as 'the largest amount for a case involving deliberate vessel pollution, ' on felony charges brought in Los Angeles; Newark, N.J.; Portland, Ore.; Seattle; and Charleston, S.C.
On Monday, Evergreen pleaded guilty to 24 felony counts and one misdemeanor — five counts from each federal district involved in the case — for 'concealing the deliberate, illegal discharge of waste oil and for a negligent discharge in the Columbia River,' the Justice Department said.
The charges included making false statements, obstruction of Coast Guard inspections, and failing to maintain accurate oil record books.
'Cheating and deceiving is no way to conduct business, and the actions of Evergreen undermined the hard work of every honest operator that complies with these laws every day,' said Rear Admiral Thomas H. Gilmour, assistant commandant for marine safety, security and environmental protection for the U.S. Coast Guard.
'Evergreen illegally discharged waste oil and then attempted to conceal its actions. This guilty plea sends a clear and strong message to shipping companies: they will pay a heavy price if they intentionally violate our nation's environmental laws,' said Thomas V. Skinner, acting assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Barbara Spector Yeninas, a spokesperson for Evergreen, told Shippers' NewsWire the Justice Department had 'gone over the top' in its negative comments about Evergreen. 'The violations charged by the government occurred between four and seven years ago, involved only seven vessels, and did not involve the discharge of bilge water in U.S. waters,' Yeninas said.
The one incident involving a discharge from an Evergreen vessel 'was an accident,' Yeninas said. That was Count 5, District of Oregon, in the government's list of 25 counts, which the Justice Department called a 'misdemeanor — negligent discharging a harmful quantity of oil in navigable waters.' The incident occurred on the Columbia River.
Asked by Shippers' NewsWire why no ship's officer nor Evergreen executive had gone to jail for the 24 felony counts to which Evergreen pleaded guilty, Ben Porritt, a spokesman for the Justice department, said, 'the status of individuals is not addressed in the plea agreement.' A source in the Environmental Protection Agency said 'the door remained open' for individuals to be prosecuted in months to come.
Section 12 of Evergreen's plea agreement, made available by the Justice Department to Shippers' NewsWire, states: 'This agreement has no effect on any proceedings against any party not expressly mentioned herein, including the actual or potential criminal liability of any individuals.'
In Evergreen's view, 'this matter ended Monday when Evergreen signed the plea agreement and paid the fine,' Yeninas said.
According to terms of the plea agreement, Evergreen agreed to waive the right to a jury trial and entered a plea of guilty to all charges brought by the government. In Section 13, entitled 'breach of agreement,' the government noted pointedly it 'has agreed not to prosecute all of the criminal conduct established by the evidence as committed by the defendant solely because of the promises made by the defendant in this agreement.'
If Evergreen breaches the agreement, or withdraws its guilty plea, 'the government retains the right to present to the grand jury for indictment all of the criminal violations established by the evidence,' the plea agreement said.
The agreement also stipulated that 'the plea of guilty will be entered by the defendant through Capt. Fu, Yi-hsing, the vice president of Evergreen International S.A.'
The government said in a statement that Evergreen's $25 million fine would be divided equally among the five judicial districts involved. Of that amount, $10 million will be directed to environmental community service projects in each district.
The National Park Foundation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation are the principal recipients of money earmarked for community service.
The Evergreen containerships charged by the government were the 'Ever Given,' the 'Ever Dainty,' the 'Ever Gleeful,' the 'Ever Laurel,' the 'Ever Reward,' the 'Ever Refine' and the 'Ever Group.' The government said the last-named vessel had been the one that negligently discharged 500 gallons of oil in the Columbia River near Kalama, Washington State.
According to the plea agreement, the government's investigation 'revealed that for a number of years, on each of the named vessels, the defendant acting through certain crew members, including certain senior and supervisory members of the engineering staff and other crew members, engaged in a repeated practice of discharging oily bilge waste and oily sludges directly into the ocean by a variety of means.' Also, 'the use of false log books ' was designed to conceal and cover up misconduct that took place,' the agreement said.
Of the 24 felony counts to which Evergreen pleaded guilty, 15 were for 'knowingly failing to maintain accurate Oil Record Book(s),' five were for 'making false statements,' and four were for 'obstruction of U.S. Coast Guard inspection.'
The government noted that Evergreen National, S.A., a Panamanian company having offices and headquarters in Panama, was 'the single largest shareholder of Evergreen Marine Corp. (Taiwan) Ltd.,' based in Taiwan.
Evergreen said it has taken 'full responsibility for the actions of employees who failed to comply with the worldwide company policy of protecting the environment.'
Yeninas added that in 2003, Evergreen's 'commitment to the environment was evidenced by the first-ever award presented by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach for Evergreen's voluntary compliance with recommended environmental protection issues.'
