Evans for the Eastern District of Louisiana. “Safeguarding the environment is one of the highest priorities for the Department of Justice,” said U.S. In GREAT LAKES’ plea documents, GREAT LAKES admitted that it supervised Tassin’s work and that GREAT LAKES’ negligent supervision of Tassin caused the oil spill.

Tassin admitted that a GREAT LAKES employee instructed Tassin not to tell anyone that Tassin had been digging near the site of the spill, so Tassin followed that instruction. While Tassin was in the area of that work on September 5, 2016, he struck one of the pipelines with his marsh buggy and caused the oil spill. According to court documents in Tassin’s case, after GREAT LAKES stopped complying with One Call requirements, a GREAT LAKES employee instructed Tassin to use his marsh buggy to dig near pipelines, despite that digging not being in NOAA’s approved plans, and without GREAT LAKES getting approval from any pipeline companies that it was safe to dig. 21-cr-8, and he pled guilty as charged on Maand is awaiting sentencing.

James Tassin, the subcontractor working for GREAT LAKES who operated the marsh buggy that physically caused the spill, was charged in a separate criminal case, No. GREAT LAKES admitted that it violated those two laws by failing to alert pipeline companies about continuing work near their pipelines for several months leading up to the oil spill. In the plea documents, GREAT LAKES admitted that in its contract with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”), GREAT LAKES was responsible for locating all pipelines in the area of the project and complying with the federal Pipeline Safety Act and the “One Call” system created by the Louisiana Underground Utilities and Facilities Damage Prevention Law.

The spill took place on September 5, 2016, on the edge of Bay Long near the Chenier Ronquille barrier island, which is east of Grand Isle. Evans announced that GREAT LAKES DREDGE & DOCK COMPANY, LLC (“ GREAT LAKES”), a Texas company, pled guilty on June 15, 2021 to violating the Clean Water Act in connection with an oil spill in 2016, and agreed to pay a $1 million fine and additional restitution to be determined by the court.Īccording to court documents, GREAT LAKES admitted to negligently causing the discharge of a harmful quantity of oil into a navigable water of the United States, in violation of the Clean Water Act. NEW ORLEANS – United States Attorney Duane A.

Great lakes dredge & dock company