Environment & Natural Resources Division

Long Island Fisherman Sentenced for Role in Fisheries Fraud Conspiracy A Long Island, New York, fisherman was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in prison and two years of supervised release for his role in a fisheries fraud conspiracy associated with his captainship of the trawler New Age from 2014 to 2017. In October 2023, a jury convicted Christopher Winkler, of Montauk of one count of federal criminal conspiracy, two counts of mail fraud and two counts of obstruction of justice. On at least 200 fishing trips, Winkler targeted summer flounder (fluke) and black sea bass, and harvested those fish in excess of quotas and state trip limits. He also falsified Fishing Vessel Trip Reports for those trips. Read more: https://lnkd.in/giJ7tpJn

Justice Department and EPA Announce $241.5M Settlement with Marathon Oil to Reduce Climate- and Health-Harming Emissions in North Dakota Settlement Includes Largest Ever Clean Air Act Stationary Source Penalty and Will Result in Over 2.3 Million Tons’ Worth of Pollution Reduction The Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a settlement with Marathon Oil Company resolving Clean Air Act violations at the company’s oil and gas production operations on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. The settlement requires that Marathon pay a civil penalty of $64.5 million, the largest ever for violations of the Clean Air Act at stationary sources, which include facilities such as oil and gas tank systems. Under the settlement agreement, Marathon will implement extensive compliance measures to achieve major reductions in harmful emissions from over 200 facilities across the state. “This historic settlement — the largest ever civil penalty for violations of the Clean Air Act at stationary sources — will ensure cleaner air for the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation and other communities in North Dakota, while holding Marathon accountable for its illegal pollution,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The complaint alleges that Clean Air Act violations at nearly 90 Marathon facilities resulted in thousands of tons of illegal emissions. The work that Marathon will do under this agreement will result in the equivalent of over 2.25 million tons of reduced carbon-dioxide emissions over the next five years and also eliminate nearly 110,000 tons of VOC emissions. The Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce our environmental laws to protect the health of the American people.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/g6Ef8whf

Owner and Operator of Colorado Natural Gas Processing Plant Agree to Pay $1M Fine and Improve Leak Detection and Repair Equipment and Practices Agreement Reflects Federal and State Partnership to Reduce Air Pollution The Justice Department, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and State of Colorado today announced a settlement with Enterprise Gas Processing LLC and Enterprise Products Operating LLC (jointly, “Enterprise”). The agreement, which includes a $1 million civil penalty, will protect community health and the environment by strengthening leak detection and repair practices at the Meeker Gas Plant in Rio Blanco County, Colorado. A complaint filed concurrently with the settlement alleges that Enterprise violated leak detection and repair requirements in accordance with the Clean Air Act and state clean air laws. The violations resulted in excess emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other pollutants to the atmosphere. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gY3KNXwS

Virginia Company and Owner Sentenced for Criminally Filling Wetlands Boyd Farm LLC and its owner Frazier T. Boyd III were sentenced yesterday for criminally filling wetlands in Goochland and Louisa Counties, Virginia. Boyd Farm was sentenced to pay a fine of $300,000 and serve a year of probation for a felony violation of the Clean Water Act. Boyd was sentenced to 30 days home confinement and a year of probation. At various times between 2017 and 2019, Boyd and his company had workers use excavators and other earthmoving equipment to pull vegetation, grub stumps and grade land at three sites in Virginia’s Piedmont region. The work left behind piles of dirt, slash and stumps. Operators hired by Boyd Farm then placed debris from those piles into wetlands and streams at the properties. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gmw9-B_Y

Tacoma Company Pleads Guilty and Sentenced for False Declarations on Timber Imports Tip the Scale LLC, of Tacoma, Washington, pleaded guilty and was sentenced today for making false declarations regarding the species and harvest location of timber used in wooden cabinets and vanities. Tip the Scale, doing business as L & D Kitchen and Bath, is an importer and seller of various home goods including wooden kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities. According to court documents, between January and May of 2020, Tip the Scale imported five shipping containers of wooden cabinets and vanities, all of which were falsely declared. The products, which were harvested and produced in China, were declared as a false species of wood harvested in Malaysia. By doing so, Tip the Scale evaded oversight of Chinese-harvested timber and more than $850,000 in import duties. Read more: https://lnkd.in/g63HECSe

Captain of Oil Tanker Pleads Guilty to Obstruction and Violating Ship Pollution Prevention Laws Two Companies that Operated the Oil Tanker Pleaded Guilty Last Month Following Deliberate Oil Dumping Captain Abdurrahman Korkmaz, 37, pleaded guilty today to a two-count information charging him with violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and for obstructing proceedings. Korkmaz, a Turkish national, was the captain of the PS Dream, a Panama-flagged motor tanker. The two related companies that operated the PS Dream pleaded guilty last month to environmental crimes. The PS Dream arrived in New Orleans on Jan. 26, 2023. The U.S. Coast Guard conducted an inspection which included a review of the vessel’s oil record books. In his plea, Korkmaz acknowledges presenting the books to the Coast Guard knowing that they omitted information about discharging oily waste to the ocean before arriving in the United States. The falsified logs were intended to conceal the fact that beginning on Jan. 11, the crew had dumped oil-contaminated waste overboard on the voyage to New Orleans and was not complying with international treaties regulating oil pollution from ships. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gA35GXgf

#ThisWeekatJustice, ▶️ Attorney General Merrick B. Garland highlighted the historic decline in #ViolentCrime before the House Judiciary Committee ▶️ Charged 47 defendants, made dozens of arrests, and seized 2 million doses of fentanyl associated with the Sinaloa Cartel to combat #DrugTrafficking ▶️ Justice Department leadership underscored expansions in access to cutting-edge crime gun intelligence technology at ATF's Third Annual Chiefs of Police Executive Forum on Crime Guns ▶️ Announced 4 arrests and kilogram seizures of illegal substances by #LawEnforcement in relation to a drug trafficking conspiracy in Washington and New Jersey after a year-long wiretap investigation ▶️ Sentenced a white supremacist to 26 months and 3 years of supervised release for federal hate crimes targeting Black and Jewish people and desecrating a synagogue Keep up with the latest news from the Justice Department at justice.gov/news For closed captions: https://lnkd.in/gVX4RCvH

Two Charged for Involvement with Online Groups Dedicated to Monkey Torture and Mutilation Two individuals were charged this week for their involvement with online groups dedicated to creating and distributing videos depicting acts of extreme violence and sexual abuse against monkeys. Nicholas T. Dryden, of Ohio, and Giancarlo Morelli, of New Jersey, were charged with conspiracy to create and distribute so-called “animal crush videos,” and with distributing animal crush videos. Dryden is also charged with the creation of animal crush videos, as well as with production, distribution and receipt of a visual depiction of the sexual abuse of children because a minor was paid to abuse the monkeys. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ghdUDmMm

Today is #WorldEnvironmentDay! When ENRD fights to restore our Nation’s rivers and public lands, we also restore public health and advance #EnvironmentalJustice.

Animal Breeder Pleads Guilty to Animal Welfare and Pollution Crimes and Will Pay More than $35M, Including Record Fine in an Animal Welfare Case In 2022, DOJ Secured Surrender of Over 4,000 Beagles from Envigo’s Cumberland, Virginia, Facility 🔗: https://lnkd.in/gGF2b-DG