Environmental Law

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By Walter James

On January 10, 2008, Mark Humphries, the former chief engineer of the M/V Tanabata, was sentenced to six months in prison for conspiracy to make illegal discharges of oily waste and lying to the Coast Guard. The M/V Tanabata is an American-flagged car-carrier ship based in Baltimore. In addition to six months imprisonment, Humphries was sentenced to pay a

$1,000.00 fine and be subjected to two years supervised released.

Humphries had been convicted by a jury on October 16, 2007, for conspiring to violate four different laws including making illegal discharges of bilge waste, in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships; failing to fully maintain an oil record book, in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships; making and using materially false documents; and obstruction of agency proceedings.  The jury also found him guilty on two counts of making materially false statements to the Coast Guard in 2002 and 2003.

At trial, the government proved that the M/V Tanabata had a removable bypass pipe (the ?magic? pipe) that was used to discharge oily waste without the use of an oily-water separator.  Humphries? former colleagues and subordinates, including other engineers, testified that Humphries did not use the oily water separator.  Humphries himself referred to the bypass pipe as the ?illegal pipe? and directed that it be hidden when the ship was in port so that it would not be discovered by the Coast Guard.  Humphries not only deliberately bypassed the pollution prevention equipment on the M/V Tanabata, he then concealed the crime by making false entries in the ship?s Oil Record Book.  This practice involved a number of subordinate crew members of the engine department, including students at U.S. maritime academies receiving on-the-job training as ?Cadets.?  Prosecutors also advised the Court that Humphries had participated in and directed similar criminal conduct on two other ships.         

Humphries was chief engineer of the M/V Tanabata between April 2002 and September 2003, during which period he traded shifts with the ship?s other chief engineer, co-defendant Stephen Karas.  Karas pleaded guilty to similar charges on March 29, 2007, and is awaiting sentencing.  In addition to Humphries and Karas, two other chief engineers have also pleaded guilty to similar crimes.  The M/V Tanabata was operated by Pacific Gulf Marine, Inc. (?PGM?).  PGM pleaded guilty and was sentenced on January 27, 2007, to charges of making illegal discharges of oil-contaminated waste from each of four ships managed by PGM.  After learning of the investigation, PGM conducted and voluntarily disclosed the results of an internal investigation and cooperated with investigators and prosecutors.  PGM was sentenced to pay a $1,000,000.00 criminal fine and $500,000.00 in community service payments, and to serve three years probation under the terms of an Environmental Compliance Program that includes audits by an outside firm and review by a court appointed monitor. 

More later.

As always, feel free to contact me at walter.james@jamespllc.com

WDJiii

Full post as published by Environmental Crimes Blog on January 21, 2008 (boomark / email).