The United States has fined a Japanese shipping company $1 million for covering up the intentional oil pollution of the waters off North Carolina last year.
"This case demonstrates that those who pollute our oceans and deliberately mislead U.S. Coast Guard officials will be brought to justice," acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Wood said Thursday in a statement.
Nitta Kisen Kaisha Ltd., the company that owns the Atlantic Oasis, admitted its engineers failed to document the illegal discharge of oily waste into the Atlantic. The ship's chief engineer, Jihnyun Youn, lied to Coast Guard inspectors about the existence of a log used to record engine room fluid levels.
Youn was placed on a year's probation and fined $5,500.
The Justice Department said it hoped the penalties would deter anyone from using the environment as a dumping ground.
