Abrasive Sandblast Media News

Rowan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:RDC) announced that, pursuant to a plea agreement with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), it entered guilty pleas to three felony counts in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, in connection with environmental violations related to maintenance and operations of the offshore drilling rig Rowan-Midland during the period from 2002 through 2004. The Rowan-Midland was sold by the company in January 2007. Specifically, the Company pleaded guilty to (i) causing the discharge of a pollutant, abrasive sandblast media, into U.S. navigable waters, thereby violating the Clean Water Act, (ii) failing to immediately report the discharge of waste hydraulic oil into U.S.