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LOUISIANA TOWING COMPANIES PLEAD GUILTY TO POLLUTING MISSISSIPPI
Release Date: 08/31/2001
Contact Information:
FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 2001
LOUISIANA TOWING COMPANIES PLEAD
GUILTY TO POLLUTING MISSISSIPPI
Luke C. Hester 202-564-7818 / hester.luke@epa.gov
GUILTY TO POLLUTING MISSISSIPPI
Luke C. Hester 202-564-7818 / hester.luke@epa.gov
Three Baton Rouge tugboat service companies, McKinney Towing, Inc., McKinney Harbor Towing, Inc., and Slidell Towing, Inc., and the president of the companies, Glenn McKinney, pleaded guilty on Aug.17 to violating the Clean Water Act by pumping a mixture of oil and water into the Mississippi River. McKinney Towing has agreed to pay a $420,000 fine and $80,000 in restitution to be equally divided by the Louisiana State Police Right-to-Know Fund and the Southern Environmental Enforcement Network. The other companies will pay each pay a $10,000 fine. When sentenced, McKinney faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000. During a five year period, the defendants knowingly allowed their tugboats to discharge oily bilge water into the river several times a week. None of the defendants had a permit
for the discharges. The investigation was conducted by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, the Louisiana State Police and the Baton Rouge Police Department with the assistance of EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Baton Rouge, La.
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