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Former Merchant Marine Admits Causing 49,000 Gallon Oil Spill in Arthur Kill

Release Date: 01/05/2000
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(#00008) NEWARK, N.J. -- A former merchant marine tankerman for New York-based Reinauer Transportation Companies pleaded guilty today to causing an estimated 49,000 gallons of oil to spill into the Arthur Kill near Carteret, U.S. Attorney Robert J. Cleary announced. Donald Dale Lamb, 38, of Florida, was charged in a two-count Indictment returned July 19 by a Newark federal grand jury, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry E. Klingeman. In pleading guilty to Count One, Lamb admitted lying about his prior criminal record on his March 14, 1997 renewal application for a merchant marine tankerman license, a U.S. Coast Guard-issued document authorizing its holder to operate commercial tanker ships. Lamb told U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden that he failed to acknowledge on the application two previous convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol. In pleading guilty to Count Two, Lamb admitted negligently causing the oil spill on May 15, 1997, while supervising the loading of #2 fuel oil onto the barge RTC 320 at a Carteret pumping facility. Lamb told Judge Hayden that he went below decks on the barge and remained there, when he should have remained in a position to supervise the oil loading. "Mr. Lamb inflicted a potential ecological disaster on New Jersey," Cleary said. "It started with lying on an application and spiraled into one of the worst chemical spills in the history of the New Jersey waterfront." Cleary noted that, had Lamb disclosed his convictions, he would have not been lawfully entitled to the merchant marine tankerman's license he was granted two months before the spill. EPA Regional Administrator Jeanne M. Fox said, "The negligent actions of this tanker operator could have had a profound negative effect on the fragile aquatic ecosystem of the New York/New Jersey harbor. We all know the kind of damage a fuel spill can inflict on the environment and on the people and animals that rely on it, and we sincerely hope that others that do business on our local waterways learn from Mr. Lamb's terrible mistake. No action that threatens our environment will go unpunished." Lamb faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on Count One and a maximum of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine on Count Two. Sentencing is scheduled for 10 a.m. March 29. Under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Judge Hayden will determine the defendant's actual sentence based on a formula that takes into account the severity and characteristics of the offense and the defendant's criminal history, if any. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Under sentencing guidelines, defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time. Cleary credited special agents of the U.S. EPA Criminal Investigation Division, under the supervision of William Lometti, special agent in charge; the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, under the supervision of Patrick Woods, resident agent in charge; and state investigators of the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, under the supervision of Director Paul Zoubek, with developing the case against Lamb. Cleary also thanked the Staten Island District Attorney's Office, under the direction of District Attorney William L. Murphy, for their cooperation. The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Klingeman of the U.S. Attorney Office's Frauds and Public Protection Division in Newark and Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward R. Bonanno, cross-designated by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, and Michael J. Deodati, cross-designated by the Staten Island District Attorney's Office.