Newsroom
All News Releases By Date
LOUISIANA COMPANY SENTENCED FOR CLEAN WATER ACT VIOLATIONS
Release Date: 01/15/99
Contact Information:
FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 1999
LOUISIANA COMPANY SENTENCED FOR CLEAN WATER ACT VIOLATIONS
Intracoastal Liquid Mud Inc. (ILM), was sentenced on Jan. 6, to pay a fine of $240,000 and was ordered to implement an environmental compliance program by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in Lafayette. ILM previously pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act by discharging waste into the Vermillion River without a permit. ILM is in the business of selling drilling muds used in oil exploration and provides barge and offshore supply boat cleaning services. In its previous plea agreement, ILM admitted that between 1992 and January 1998, its employees illegally discharged hundreds of thousands of gallons of waste wash water into the river. The wash water contained contaminants such as oil-based drilling mud, calcium chloride, barite and cement, all of which can be harmful to aquatic life. The case was investigated by the EPA Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI, the Coast Guard Criminal Investigative Service, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, and was prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.
R-2 ###
Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases
View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.
