Dredging firm to pay $1M for oil spill work

A Houston dredging company has been ordered to pay a $1 million fine for an oil spill that occurred when a subcontractor cut through an oil pipeline during barrier island restoration work off Louisiana in 2016.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, which describes itself as the nation’s largest dredging company, was sentenced June 16 for violating the Clean Water Act.

Great Lakes “recklessly violated regulations designed to protect the environment and then tried to hide their actions,” Kimberly Bahney, special agent in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency’s criminal enforcement program in Louisiana, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Orleans said.

The spill occurred when a marsh buggy hit a pipeline while digging and moving sediment to create part of the island’s new outline, releasing an estimated 5,300 gallons of crude oil and oiling about 200 birds.

The restoration at Chenier Ronquille, a barrier island east of Grand Isle, was paid for by money from the 2010 BP oil spill.

Great Lakes pleaded guilty in June 2021. As part of the plea, it said it violated state and federal laws by failing to tell companies about continuing work near their pipelines. A statement filed with the guilty plea also said Great Lakes’ failure to properly supervise James Tassin, whose marsh buggy punctured the pipeline on Sept. 5, 2016, was a cause of the spill.