RCI - Pollution
asu...@fginc.com
story that appeared on CNN's web site in September '98:
Royal Caribbean gets record fine for dumping oil into seas
Prosecutors say illegal pollution continued even after cruise line pleaded
guilty
MIAMI (CNN) -- Royal Caribbean International will pay a $9-million fine for
dumping oil into the Caribbean and Atlantic oceans, the highest pollution fine
ever assessed against a cruise company.
The U.S. Justice Department said the cruise line continued its practices of
dumping oil into the oceans even after pleading guilty to polluting and then
trying to cover up its actions.
"They show just how hard it is to change a corporate culture which tolerated
pollution and fell asleep at the mast," said Richard Udell of the Justice
Department.
On Wednesday, a U.S. judge in Miami ordered Royal Caribbean to pay a $1
million fine, part of a plea-bargain agreement reached last June that will
have the company paying a total of $9 million.
"It's a substantial mount of money," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Watts-
Fitzgerald. "This is the largest collective fine in the cruise ship industry.
That alone has to send a significant message."
The millions of dollars in fines will help repair coral reefs. Along with the
fine, U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks put the cruise line on five
years probation and ordered it to submit an environmental compliance plan by
December 15.
In a pretrial agreement with prosecutors, Royal Caribbean pleaded guilty in
June to eight felony counts in cases brought in Puerto Rico and Florida.
Sentencing in the Puerto Rico case, in which Royal Caribbean agreed to pay $8
million, is set for September 25.
Justice department prosecutors say these pictures show an extra pipe appearing
and disappearing, a design intended to circumvent pollution controls
Government tapes show oil dumping
Newly released government tapes show the cruise line's practice of dumping oil
into the oceans goes back to 1993.
On one tape, infrared cameras captured a seven-mile (11-kilometer) oil slick
left by a Royal Caribbean ship. The cruise line's Nordic Empress pumped bilge
waste into the Atlantic on its way from the Bahamas to Miami on February 1,
1993. A U.S. Coast Guard aircraft searching for drug smugglers spotted the oil
slick.
When the ship docked in Miami, U.S. authorities asked to see a log in which
ship's officers were required to record bilge pumping. The log falsely omitted
the fact that the ship had pumped oily waste into the water, said Watts-
Fitzgerald.
Other tapes show that in 1994, Royal Caribbean's Sovereign of the Seas ship
left plumes of oil off the coast of Puerto Rico, and in 1995, the Monarch of
the Seas disgorged more oil, which trailed in the ship's wake for 22 miles (35
kilometers).
The government also released a tape showing an extra pipe appearing and
disappearing on a ship, which the Justice Department said proves that Royal
Caribbean crews installed systems meant to circumvent required pollution
controls to save the cost of proper disposal. The government said crews
dismantled the systems before inspectors arrived.
Royal Caribbean admitted in June that ship's crews routinely pumped oil bilge
and kept dummy logs that the crews called "fairy tale" books. The company also
admitted to disassembling illegal sewage pipes bypassing cleaning devices as
part of an attempt to hide the illegal practices.
"These acts were inexcusable. They were wrong. They should not have happened,"
said Jack Williams, president of Royal Caribbean.
The investigation into Royal Caribbean's environmental practices has not
ended, said Watts-Fitzgerald.
CNN Correspondent Susan Candiotti and Reuters Limited contributed to this
report.
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Chuck
asu...@fginc.com wrote in message <7563k7$elk$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>...
>I think it is important for readers in this group to be aware of this news
>story that appeared on CNN's web site in September '98:
>
>Royal Caribbean gets record fine for dumping oil into seas ...
gohee...@my-dejanews.com
The point is that people concerned with our environment and the condition of
our oceans should keep this in mind when planning their next cruise. (duh.)
In article <QDBd2.175$J47...@news.rdc1.md.home.com>,"Chuck"
<chuc...@home.com> wrote:
> and your point would be??
>
>
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