War & Buffet's BNSF is a Discriminator: Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway must reinstate injured conductor and pay $536K in damages for retaliation OSHA finds railroad violated federal whistleblower protections

June 17, 2015

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway must reinstate
injured conductor and pay $536K in damages for retaliation.

OSHA finds railroad violated federal whistleblower protections

SEATTLE – North America's second-largest freight railroad, Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC, must reinstate a train conductor and pay the man $536,063 in back pay, damages and attorney's fees after a federal investigation found the rail operator retaliated against its employee after reporting a knee injury.

BNSF filed disciplinary charges against the conductor after he reported the injury, which occurred in November 2010 while en route from Vancouver to Pasco. The employee filed a Federal Railroad Safety Act anti-discrimination complaint with OSHA in February 2011. Company officials fired him in August 2011 despite knowing that his injury report was protected by law.

U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators determined the railroad violated federal laws protecting whistleblowers. After an investigation, OSHA ordered the reinstatement and financial compensation.

"Disciplining an employee for reporting an injury is illegal," said Ken Atha, regional administrator for OSHA's Seattle office. "Those who do so face negative repercussions. Retaliatory actions can discourage other workers from speaking up, which may result in an unsafe work environment."

In addition to paying punitive and compensatory damages, OSHA ordered BNSF to rehire the employee and expunge his record of all charges and disciplinary action. The company must also conduct training for supervisors and managers on employee whistleblower rights and post a notice to employees of their whistleblower rights. 

Both the employee and the railroad have 30 days from receipt of OSHA's findings to file objections and request a hearing before the department's Office of Administrative Law Judges.

With 38,000 employees, BNSF operates more than 7,000 locomotives and 32,500 miles of track.

OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the FRSA and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, maritime and securities laws.

Under laws enacted by Congress, employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government. Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor for an investigation by OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program. Detailed employee rights information is available online at http://www.whistleblowers.gov. 

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab AS (DSD Shipping), a Norwegian Shipping Company, and 4 Engineering Officers Charged in Second Indictment with Environmental Crimes and Obstruction of Justice

 

Friday, June 12, 2015

 

A federal grand jury in Lafayette, Louisiana, has returned a three-count indictment charging Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab AS (DSD Shipping) and four employees with violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and obstruction of justice in connection with the illegal discharge of contaminated waste-water directly into the sea, announced Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley for the Western District of Louisiana.  

DSD Shipping is a Norwegian-based shipping company that operates the oil tanker M/T Stavanger Blossom, a vessel engaged in the international transportation of crude oil.  Also indicted were four engineering officers employed by DSD Shipping to work aboard the vessel: Daniel Paul Dancu, 51, of Romania; Bo Gao, 49, of China; Xiaobing Chen, 34, of China; and Xin Zhong, 28, of China.

The operation of marine vessels, like the M/T Stavanger Blossom, generates large quantities of waste oil and oil-contaminated waste water.  International and U.S. law requires that these vessels use pollution prevention equipment to preclude the discharge of these materials.  Should any overboard discharges occur, they must be documented in an oil record book, a log that is regularly inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard.

“Companies operating vessels in navigable waterways have a responsibility to prevent oil spills and protect the public and the environment,” said U.S. Attorney Finley.  “One of our priorities is to help preserve the natural resources of this state.  Violators should be clear - charges will be filed against entities and persons who harm these resources and obstruct investigations.”

According to the indictment, in 2014, DSD Shipping and its employees discharged oil-contaminated waste water generated aboard the M/T Stavanger Blossom directly into the sea.  To hide the illegal discharges, DSD Shipping and its employees maintained a fictitious oil record book that failed to record the disposal, transfer, or overboard discharge of oil from the vessel.  The indictment further alleges that prior to an inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard, Chen ordered crewmembers to remove piping connected to the vessel’s overboard discharge valve, install new piping, and repaint the piping to hinder an inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard. 

DSD Shipping and the engineering officers were charged with violating the APPS for failing to record overboard discharges in the vessel’s oil record book and with obstruction of justice for presenting false documents and deceiving the Coast Guard during an inspection in the Port of Lake Charles.  

If convicted, DSD Shipping could be fined up to $500,000 per count, in addition to other possible penalties.  Dancu, Gao, Chen and Zhong face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the obstruction of justice charges.  An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

This is the second indictment arising from a joint, multi-district investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard, Sector Mobile, U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Services and the Criminal Investigation Division for the Environmental Protection Agency.  

DSD Shipping, Dancu, Gao, Chen and Zhong were previously indicted in the Southern District of Alabama with a seven-count indictment charging related conduct.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard Parker with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Louisiana, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Anderson with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama and Trial Attorney Shane N. Waller Environmental Crimes Section are prosecuting the case.

Norbulk Shipping UK Ltd, a company based in Glasgow, United Kingdom, and operator of the M/V Murcia Carrier, Fined $750,000 for Environmental Crimes

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

 

Shipping Company Fined $750,000 for Environmental Crimes

 

Norbulk Shipping UK Ltd, a company based in Glasgow, United Kingdom, and operator of the M/V Murcia Carrier, pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an accurate oil record book in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and providing false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard concerning the vessel’s garbage record book.  The company was sentenced to pay a criminal penalty of $750,000 and placed on three years of probation by the Honorable Joseph H. Rodriguez, the Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced today.

“Our oceans are life giving and life sustaining resources that our country and our world depend upon,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Ignoring perfectly legal and feasible ways to dispose of waste, the defendants chose instead to dump directly into the ocean.  Today the company will pay a price for this inexcusable and criminal act.”

“Illegal discharges at sea damage our environment and endanger those who work in and enjoy our coastal waters,” said U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman for the District of New Jersey.  “As we have shown before, shipping companies that engage in these criminal practices and deliberately discharge oil – and then lie about it to the Coast Guard – will be prosecuted.”

APPS requires vessels like the M/V Murcia Carrier to maintain a record known as an oil record book in which all transfers and disposals of oil-contaminated waste, including  the discharge overboard of such waste, must be fully and accurately recorded.  Additionally, vessels like the M/V Murcia Carrier must maintain a record known as garbage record book that fully and accurately records the discharge of all garbage into the sea from the vessel. 

On April 27, 2014, crew members on board the M/V Murcia Carrier dumped overboard several barrels containing hydraulic oil, at the direction of the vessel’s Chief Mate Valerii Georgiev.  While Norbulk and Georgiev dispute the number of barrels dumped into the sea, the government believes that approximately 20 barrels were dumped overboard.  

The dumping occurred in international waters off the coast of Florida while the vessel was in transit from Costa Rica to New Jersey.  The dumping was not recorded in either the ship’s oil record book or garbage record book as required.  In an effort to conceal the dumping, crewmembers presented a U.S. Coast Guard boarding team with a false oil record book and garbage record book when the vessel arrived in Gloucester, New Jersey.

On June 15, 2015, Georgiev also pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an accurate oil record book in violation of APPS.  He is scheduled to be sentenced at a future date. 

“Marine environmental protection is one of the Coast Guard's primary missions,” said Captain Benjamin Cooper, the Sector Commander at Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay.  “The Coast Guard takes marine pollution seriously and works cohesively with our partner agencies to hold those who violate international law accountable for their actions.  We anticipate the results of this case will deter future brazen illegal oil discharges into the sea.”

The case was investigated by U.S. Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service.  The case was prosecuted by Joel La Bissonniere of the Environmental Crimes Section of the Department of Justice and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathleen P. O’Leary and Matthew Smith of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.

Avoid Flooded Roads: Driver killed after driving across flooded roadway near Meramec River in Missouri

 

 

 

JUNE 17, 2015

 

 

FRANKLIN COUNTY, MO (KTVI)

One man is dead after he tried to drive across a flooded roadway near Meramec State Park. Authorities say his car was swept away. The accident happened Tuesday night around 8:40p.m. on Hamilton Hollow Road, east of Sleepy Hollow Road.

The Missouri Highway Patrol says 60-year-old John Lyons, of Sullivan, was driving west on Hamilton Hollow Road when he tried to drive his 1992 Lexus SC400 across a flooded roadway. However, the force of the water swept the car off the road and it overturned.

Lyons was pronounced dead at the scene.

A witness reportedly called 911 and said he saw the car go into the water at a low water crossing, then get carried away.

Lyons` body was found in his car. He was the only person in the vehicle.

DSD Shipping, Engineers Hit with Second Indictment Over Illegal Oil-Contaminated Waste Discharges

June 15, 2015 by Mike Schuler

Stavanger Blossom file photo (c) MarineTraffic.com/Joel Kifer

DSD Shipping and four of its employees have been hit with a second indictment relating to illegal discharges from one of the company’s vessels.

Last week, a federal grand jury in Lafayette, Louisiana, returned a three-count indictment charging Norwegian-based shipping company Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab AS, aka DSD Shipping, and four employees with violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and obstruction of justice.

According to the indictment, in 2014, DSD Shipping and its employees discharged oil-contaminated waste water generated aboard the DSD-operated crude oil tanker Stavanger Blossom directly into the sea. 

To hide the illegal discharges, DSD Shipping and its employees then maintained a fictitious oil record book that failed to record the discharges. The indictment further alleges that prior to an inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard, one of the engineering officers ordered crewmembers to remove piping connected to the vessel’s overboard discharge valve, install new piping, and repaint the piping to hinder an inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard.

DSD Shipping and the engineering officers were charged with violating the APPS for failing to record overboard discharges in the vessel’s oil record book and with obstruction of justice for presenting false documents and deceiving the Coast Guard during an inspection in the Port of Lake Charles. If convicted, DSD Shipping could be fined up to $500,000 per count, in addition to other possible penalties.

The crewmembers – identified as Daniel Paul Dancu of Romania and Bo Gao, Xiaobing Chen and Xin Zhong, all from China – face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if found guilty of the obstruction of justice charges.

This is the second indictment stemming from a joint, multi-district investigation into the crime. In May, DSD Shipping and the four employees were also indicted in the Southern District of Alabama with a seven-count indictment charging related conduct.