Summary of Criminal Prosecutions
FISCAL YEAR: 2010
1. PRINCIPAL DEFENDANT: Charles Sivil
N.D. California CR09 0906
N.D. California CR09 0906
2. DEFENDANT: Shore Terminals, LLC
N.D. California CR09 0395
N.D. California CR09 0395
Shore Terminals, LLC., was sentenced in federal district court for the Northern District of California on July 14, 2009, to pay a $1.75 million dollar criminal fine and was placed on two years of probation. As a condition of probation, Shore Terminals, LLC must develop, fund and adopt an environmental compliance plan. The company was also ordered to pay a $750,000 Community Service Payment with $500,000 to be paid to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and $250,000 to be paid to the Bay Area Clean Air Foundation. The company pleaded guilty to a four count superseding information charging the company with four felony counts of making false statements and aiding and abetting with regard to the certifications the company made on its 2005 Title V Permit Compliance Certification.
The company owned and operated a bulk terminal in Selby, California, which received and distributed petroleum products including gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel as well as ethanol by way of deep-water vessels, barges, and stored them on on-site tank farms. When it loaded the products into fuel trucks by means of a truck rack, large amounts of volatile organic compounds wee emitted into the ambient air unless they were captured with a vapor recovery unit. From at least December 21, 2005, through December 1, 2006, this unit was not used and organic compounds escaped into the air, in violation of the company’s permit.
The company owned and operated a bulk terminal in Selby, California, which received and distributed petroleum products including gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel as well as ethanol by way of deep-water vessels, barges, and stored them on on-site tank farms. When it loaded the products into fuel trucks by means of a truck rack, large amounts of volatile organic compounds wee emitted into the ambient air unless they were captured with a vapor recovery unit. From at least December 21, 2005, through December 1, 2006, this unit was not used and organic compounds escaped into the air, in violation of the company’s permit.
April 15, 2009
Shore was charged with four counts of making false statements, a violation of 18 U.S.C. 1001(a)(3).
Shore pled guilty to the four counts.
CITATION: 18 U.S.C. 1001(a)(3)
July 14, 2009
Shore was sentenced to 24 months probation and was ordered to pay a $1.75 million federal fine and $750,000 in court ordered community service payments.
September 14, 2009
Sivil was charged in an Information with one count of violating the CAA {42 U.S.C. 7413(c)(2)(C) - falsifies, tampers with, renders inaccurate, or fails to install any monitoring device or method required to be maintain or followed....}.
He pled guilty to the charge.
CITATION: 42 U.S.C. 7413(c)(2)(C)
January 19, 2010
Sivil was sentenced to 36 months probation, including 12 months of home confinement and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service in the area of the health effects of air pollution. No fine was imposed.
Northern District of California
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2010 MANAGER OF EAST BAY FUEL TERMINAL SENTENCED TO ONE YEAR OF HOME CONFINEMENT FOR VIOLATING THE CLEAN AIR ACT Also Sentenced To 200 Hours Community Service Related To Health Impacts Of Air Pollution SAN FRANCISCO – Chuck Sivil was sentenced today to a three year period of probation, which includes one year of home confinement and 200 hours of community service focused on the health impacts of air pollution, for tampering with and rendering ineffective, or causing another to tamper with or render ineffective, a monitoring device on a vapor recovery unit located at a bulk fuel transfer facility, in Selby, Calif., owned and operated by Shore Terminals LLC, United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced. Sivil , 56, of Vallejo, Calif., pleaded guilty on Oct. 16, 2009, to one felony count of violating the Clean Air Act. According to the plea agreement, Sivil admitted that from July 1, 2005, to Dec. 1, 2006, he was the senior manager of operations and compliance at the Shore Terminals facility. During that time period, Shore Terminals experienced problems with its truck loading rack vapor recovery unit that caused the vapor recovery unit to malfunction and shut down. Shore Terminals’ employees, under Sivil’s supervision, repeatedly loaded ethanol using the truck loading rack while the truck loading rack’s vapor recovery unit was not operating. To do so, Shore Terminals’ employees used a bypass switch previously installed in the operations control room. The switch bypassed the automatic shutdown of the loading rack when the vapor recovery unit was not operating. By using the bypass switch, employees avoided delays in loading trucks but also caused the release of volatile organic compounds that repeatedly vaporized and escaped into the air, in violation of the Clean Air Act. On Aug. 25, 2006, during an inspection by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Sivil initially misled the inspector when the inspector noticed the vapor recovery unit was not operating while trucks were loading fuel. He later told the inspector the truth. Under his direction, however, the bypass switch continued to be used for several more months, until December 2006 when a search warrant was served on the facility. “Managers of facilities such as this have a responsibility to protect the environment,” U.S. Attorney Russoniello said. “Individuals who don’t, who instead choose to take shortcuts and, as a result, violate federal regulations that are designed to safeguard the health of residents in surrounding communities will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” “To protect human health and the environment, the Clean Air Act requires regulated industries to operate pollution control devices in compliance with their permits,” said Nick Torres, Special Agent in Charge of EPA's Office of Criminal Enforcement in San Francisco. “Violators who subvert required air pollution controls place the public and the environment at risk, and they will be vigorously prosecuted.” The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston following a guilty plea on one count of violating the Clean Air Act in violation of Title 42, United States Code, Section 7413(c)(1)(C). Judge Illston sentenced the defendant to a three year period of probation, which includes one year of home confinement and 200 hours of community service, which is to be focused on the health impacts of air pollution. Shore Terminals, which owned and operated the facility during this time, was convicted last year for making false statements that related to these violations. As part of a plea agreement, the company paid a fine of $1.75 million, paid $750,000 for community service projects that are related to air quality, and was ordered to implement a comprehensive environmental compliance plan. AUSAs Stacey Geis and Jeff Rabkin are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Legal Technician Rayneisha Booth. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and was referred for prosecution by the Air District’s counsel.
Northern District of California
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2010 MANAGER OF EAST BAY FUEL TERMINAL SENTENCED TO ONE YEAR OF HOME CONFINEMENT FOR VIOLATING THE CLEAN AIR ACT Also Sentenced To 200 Hours Community Service Related To Health Impacts Of Air Pollution SAN FRANCISCO – Chuck Sivil was sentenced today to a three year period of probation, which includes one year of home confinement and 200 hours of community service focused on the health impacts of air pollution, for tampering with and rendering ineffective, or causing another to tamper with or render ineffective, a monitoring device on a vapor recovery unit located at a bulk fuel transfer facility, in Selby, Calif., owned and operated by Shore Terminals LLC, United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced. Sivil , 56, of Vallejo, Calif., pleaded guilty on Oct. 16, 2009, to one felony count of violating the Clean Air Act. According to the plea agreement, Sivil admitted that from July 1, 2005, to Dec. 1, 2006, he was the senior manager of operations and compliance at the Shore Terminals facility. During that time period, Shore Terminals experienced problems with its truck loading rack vapor recovery unit that caused the vapor recovery unit to malfunction and shut down. Shore Terminals’ employees, under Sivil’s supervision, repeatedly loaded ethanol using the truck loading rack while the truck loading rack’s vapor recovery unit was not operating. To do so, Shore Terminals’ employees used a bypass switch previously installed in the operations control room. The switch bypassed the automatic shutdown of the loading rack when the vapor recovery unit was not operating. By using the bypass switch, employees avoided delays in loading trucks but also caused the release of volatile organic compounds that repeatedly vaporized and escaped into the air, in violation of the Clean Air Act. On Aug. 25, 2006, during an inspection by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Sivil initially misled the inspector when the inspector noticed the vapor recovery unit was not operating while trucks were loading fuel. He later told the inspector the truth. Under his direction, however, the bypass switch continued to be used for several more months, until December 2006 when a search warrant was served on the facility. “Managers of facilities such as this have a responsibility to protect the environment,” U.S. Attorney Russoniello said. “Individuals who don’t, who instead choose to take shortcuts and, as a result, violate federal regulations that are designed to safeguard the health of residents in surrounding communities will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” “To protect human health and the environment, the Clean Air Act requires regulated industries to operate pollution control devices in compliance with their permits,” said Nick Torres, Special Agent in Charge of EPA's Office of Criminal Enforcement in San Francisco. “Violators who subvert required air pollution controls place the public and the environment at risk, and they will be vigorously prosecuted.” The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston following a guilty plea on one count of violating the Clean Air Act in violation of Title 42, United States Code, Section 7413(c)(1)(C). Judge Illston sentenced the defendant to a three year period of probation, which includes one year of home confinement and 200 hours of community service, which is to be focused on the health impacts of air pollution. Shore Terminals, which owned and operated the facility during this time, was convicted last year for making false statements that related to these violations. As part of a plea agreement, the company paid a fine of $1.75 million, paid $750,000 for community service projects that are related to air quality, and was ordered to implement a comprehensive environmental compliance plan. AUSAs Stacey Geis and Jeff Rabkin are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Legal Technician Rayneisha Booth. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and was referred for prosecution by the Air District’s counsel.
STATUTE:
- Title 18 U.S. Criminal Code (TITLE 18)