The owner of a ship that was detained for more than a month in Duluth-Superior last year is being charged in U.S. District Court in Minnesota for illegally dumping oily wastewater.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger has filed an indictment against the German shipping company Mineralien Schiffahrt Spedition for violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships. The company is also charged with falsifying or omitting records on the Liberian-flagged vessel Cornelia as part of a U.S. Coast Guard investigation.
The indictment alleges the company discharged oily wastewater eight times over the course of last year. At least one instance occurred within the Great Lakes.
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Court appearances have not yet been scheduled. If found guilty, the company is facing a $4.5 million fine.
A spokesman with the U.S. Coast Guard declined to comment on its investigation, referring all questions to Minnesota’s U.S. Attorney’s Office. The German shipping company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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