Federal prosecutors say the chief engineer of a ship that dumped waste into waters off the Louisiana coast is going to prison.
They say Kirill Kompaniets deliberately discharged approximately 10,000 gallons of oil-contaminated bilge water.
"The illegal conduct was first reported to the Coast Guard by a crew member via social media," according to a Justice Department News Release. "The Honorable Nannette Jolivette Brown sentenced Kompaniets to serve a year and a day in prison, pay a $5,000 fine and $200 special assessment and serve six months of supervised release."
The feds say Kompanietes and a subordinate engineer dumped the oily bilge water overboard while the ship was at an anchorage near the Southwest Passage off the Louisiana coast.
"The ship’s required pollution prevention devices – an oily-water separator and oil content monitor – were not used, and the discharge was not recorded in the Oil Record Book, a required ship log."
The engineer was also charged with obstruction of justice based on what prosecutors said were various efforts to conceal the illegal discharge.
"In a joint factual statement filed in Court with his guilty plea, Kompaniets admitted to the following acts of obstruction of justice:
(1) Making false statements to the Coast Guard
(2) Destroying the computer alarm printouts for the period of the illegal discharge
(3) Holding meetings with subordinate crew members and directing them to make false statements to the Coast Guard
(4) Making a false Oil Record Book
(5) Directing subordinate engine room employees to delete all evidence from their cell phones
(6) Preparing a retaliatory document accusing the whistleblower of poor performance as part of an effort to discredit him.
“The intentional pollution of U.S. waters and the deliberate cover-up are serious criminal offenses that will not be tolerated,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice
Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
“Prosecutions such as this one should send a clear message to those that would violate the law and endanger our precious natural resources.”
“The defendant in this case deliberately disregarded procedures designed to protect the environment from contaminants and then attempted to hide his actions,” said U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans for the Eastern District of Louisiana. “Today’s announcement emphasizes that both our office and our federal partners are committed to holding accountable all parties whose criminality jeopardizes our environment and places the public and the ecosystem at risk.”
