Evergreen agrees to pay $25 million 
for concealing vessel pollution

WASHINGTON (04/08/05) -- Evergreen International, S.A. has agreed to pay a $25 million penalty, the largest amount ever paid in a case involving deliberate vessel pollution; and to plead guilty to felony charges brought by U.S. Attorneys in five judicial districts: Los Angeles, CA; Newark, NJ; Portland, OR; Seattle; and Charleston, SC. 

Evergreen International, S.A. (Evergreen), one of many Evergreen-related companies involved in the container ship business, pleaded guilty on April 4 to 24 felony counts and one misdemeanor-five counts from each federal district involved in the case-for concealing the deliberate, illegal discharge of waste oil and for a negligent discharge in the Columbia River. The charges include making false statements, obstruction of Coast Guard inspections, failing to maintain an accurate Oil Record Book, and one negligent violation of the Clean Water Act relating to the discharge in the Columbia River. Following the guilty pleas, U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter, Jr. ordered the company to pay $25 million to be divided equally among the five judicial districts involved. Of this amount, $10 million will be directed to environmental community service projects in each district.

"The deliberate and purposeful pollution of our oceans and America's waterways must be met with strict enforcement," said Deputy Attorney General James Comey. "This penalty has secured justice against Evergreen and provided a victory for all Americans who enjoy and respect our environment. I want to thank the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section for their hard work and the U.S. Attorneys from the Central District of California, New Jersey, Oregon, South Carolina and the Western District of Washington, along with the EPA and Coast Guard whose efforts made this agreement possible." 

The investigation of Evergreen ships and companies began on March 4, 2001 after the discovery of approximately 500 gallons of oil in the Columbia River near Kalama, Washington. Through vessel traffic reports and oil samples, the U.S. Coast Guard traced the spill to the Ever Group, a container vessel managed by Evergreen Marine (Taiwan) Ltd., which had negligently discharged the oil. On May 14, 2001, the Washington State Department of Ecology (WDOE) discovered a bypass pipe used by crew members on another Evergreen vessel, called the Ever Given, to illegally discharge waste oil into the ocean. 

The violations on these two vessels led the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct “Priority One” inspections of other vessels owned, operated, or affiliated with Evergreen in various United States ports. The federal investigation was conducted with the assistance of the WDOE as well as the EPA’s Criminal Investigations Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and revealed that at least seven Evergreen ships (Ever Group, Ever Given, Ever Dainty, Ever Refine, Ever Gleeful, Ever Laurel, and Ever Reward) regularly and routinely used bypass equipment to discharge oily waste and sludge oil while circumventing required pollution prevention equipment and concealing the discharges in fictitious logs which it knew were inspected regularly by the Coast Guard. In a factual statement filed by the court, Evergreen admitted that it knew the fictitious logs were regularly inspected by the Coast Guard. 

Four related Evergreen companies-Evergreen Marine (Taiwan), Evergreen America, Greencompass Marine, S.A., and Evergreen International, S.A.-will be bound by a detailed Environmental Compliance Plan to prevent future violations as a condition of probation. Under the terms of the proposed plan, Evergreen will need to secure every overboard valve and flange with numbered tags and make other hardware changes to make bypassing more difficult. The compliance plan also requires that Evergreen ships visiting the United States be audited by an outside firm which will be reviewed by a special court appointed monitor.