Portland, Ore. – The Office of the United States Attorney has filed an information charging Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals, Inc. (KMBT) with one count of violation of the Ocean Dumping Act. The company, based in Louisiana, is cooperating and is expected to enter a guilty plea to the charge.
As part of the settlement the company is expected to pay a total monetary penalty of $240,000. Of this amount, 35% will be directed toward environmental projects through the Oregon Governor’s Fund for the Environment– which is managed by the National Fish and Wildlife Fund.
The case arose out of an investigation of a bulk cargo vessel named the J/A Aladdin Dream II. KMBT received an off-specification load of potash at its Portland T-5 Terminal in August of 2003. KMBT operates the terminal for a Canadian customer. Inspectors hired by the customer discovered the off-specification load of potash. KMBT was unable to reverse conveyors at the time of the incident. KMBT has since corrected the problem by arranging for holding facilities for off-specification potash. A terminal employee contracted with the vessel master taking on potash to store the off-specification clumped potash on deck and dispose of the on deck load at sea. Potash, similar to “lite salt,” is used as a fertilizer and no known environmental harm occurred as a result of the disposal at sea. KMBT saved approximately $78,000 for its customer by avoiding landfill costs for disposal of the product.
KMBT received no economic benefit from the disposal at sea. No KMBT personnel outside the terminal were aware of or involved in the decisions which led to the disposal.
United States Attorney Karin J. Immergut said, “Ocean Dumping Act cases do not often come to the attention of this office, but this case shows that the Government is willing to act whenever ocean waters are threatened. Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals has acted appropriately in this case by cooperating and agreeing in principal to plead guilty. We believe this will send a strong message to other corporations that the Government will seek fair sentences in these cases.”
Questions may be directed to Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Caldwell or Assistant U.S. Attorney Dwight C. Holton or Ronald Sutcliffe at the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
