[笑話]Evergreen pays $25m for hiding illegal oil discharges

New York- Wednesday April 06 2005 EVERGREEN has agreed to pay $25m under a guilty plea in the US to settle a case involving the concealment of illegal discharge of untreated waste oil. The plea bargain agreed on Monday, which includes $10m to environmental funds, is a powerful statement of the seriousness with which Washington is waging its campaign against shipping companies on this matter. Some quarters have suggested that this attitude bespeaks confrontation rather than co- operation, and could undercut the climate of transparency and trust that both sides of the regulator-shipowner divide profess in their mutual dealings. However, Dennis Bryant, senior counsel with Washington law firm Holland & Knight, told Lloyd』s List: 「This should not necessarily be viewed as selective prosecution. Rather, the authorities want the industry to take the initiative and do the right thing at the right time.」 Instituting internal compliance programmes before rather than after being caught is one example of this approach, regulators say. Evergreen stressed in the aftermath of its conviction that it had such a programme in place. Still, Evergreen suggested that the tenor of the US announcement made its crimes appear worse than they actually were. The federal announcement contained no redeeming references to the container line. Evergreen was convicted on 24 felony counts and one misdemeanour in five jurisdictions — Los Angeles; Newark, New Jersey; Portland, Oregon; Seattle and Charleston, South Carolina. Seven Evergreen ships figured in the plea bargain — Ever Group, Ever Given, Ever Dainty, Ever Refine, Ever Gleeful, Ever Laurel,and Ever Reward. During a three-year period to 2001, the ships were said to have 「regularly and routinely used bypass equipment to discharge oily waste and sludge oil while circumventing required pollution prevention equipment and concealing the discharges in fictitious logs which it knew were inspected regularly by the US Coast Guard」. Evergreen also pleaded guilty to destroying a bypass pipe in anticipation of a US Coast Guard inspection and instructing crew members to lie about unlawful activities. 「The deliberate and purposeful pollution of our oceans and America』s waterways must be met with strict enforcement,」 US Deputy Attorney General James Comey said. 「This penalty has provided a victory for all Americans who enjoy and respect our environment.」 Adm Thomas Gilmour, the US Coast Guard assistant commandant for marine safety, security and environmental protection, added: 「Cheating and deceiving is no way to conduct business. Evergreen』s actions undermined the hard work of every honest operator that complies with these laws each day.」 The announcement said the $25m enforcement represented the 「largest-ever amount for a case involving deliberate vessel pollution」. The fine of about $28m paid by Royal Caribbean in 1999 involved two separate counts and Evergreen』s was the 「single largest」 fine, officials clarified. In addition to this nomenclature, Evergreen spokeswoman Barbara Spector Yeninas objected to the substance of the Deputy Attorney General』s comment. The company』s troubles were triggered by an accidental discharge of 500 gallons of fuel oil by the Ever Group in March 2001 in the Columbia River near Kalama, Washington. In May 2001, the Washington State Department of Ecology discovered a bypass pipe used by crew members on another Evergreen vessel, the Ever Given, to discharge waste oil into the ocean. This, in turn, sparked a full-blown investigation of Evergreen ships. Ms Yeninas said Evergreen did not deny either incident, but the company had not discharged bilge into US waters. She said Evergreen voluntarily submitted thousands of documents to prosecutors and took 「swift and decisive」 steps to expand crew training and upgrade pollution control equipment. 「It seems the government wants to make an example of Evergreen,」 Ms Yeninas said. 「But this is an Evergreen story today, and tomorrow it is going to be someone else. Still, we just want closure and hope that such infractions do not happen again.」 (資料來源：Lloyd's List maritime bulletin )