D'Amico Fined $4mln for US Pollution Violations

d’Amico Shipping Italia will pay a USD 4 million penalty and be placed on probation for four years after violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships in the US.

The Italian shipping company has admitted discharging oily waste and other pollutants into the sea and then lying about it, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito and Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark announced.

The company pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark federal court to an information charging it with violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.

Under terms of the plea agreement, d’Amico will pay a $4 million penalty and be placed on probation for four years.

During probation, the company will be subject to the terms of an environmental compliance program that requires outside audits by an independent company and oversight by a court-appointed monitor.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, the charge to which d’Amico pleaded guilty related to the deliberate concealment of vessel pollution from an oil tanker – the M/T Cielo di Milano – owned by that company, which visited ports in New Jersey multiple times, as well as ports in Maryland and Florida.