Ferry Official Pleads Guilty To Dumping Of Raw Sewage
This is the text of an article from the New London Day newspaper. Several people have asked to see this on the website so we have posted it.
By JUDY BENSON
Health/Science/Environment Reporter for The Day
Published on 10/1/2005
Hartford — The operations manager for the Fishers Island ferries pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to deliberately allowing thousands of gallons of raw sewage to be discharged daily into the Thames River and Long Island Sound from 2000 to 2004.
Mark Easter, 54, of Bozrah, appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith, waived his right to a trial on charges that he violated the federal Clean Water Act through actions that enabled sewage from toilets on board the ferries Race Point and Munnatawket to be dumped directly overboard.
The sewage should have been kept in holding tanks, pumped out periodically by tanker trucks and brought to a treatment facility. Coast Guard investigators, however, found during an unannounced inspection on July 13, 2004, that the tanks had only been pumped out a total of seven times between January 1999 and July 2004, and that the discharge valves on the tanks were consistently left in an open position so that the effluent would flow directly into the river or sound.
Pump-outs should have been occurring about twice a week, Coast Guard investigators determined. According to court documents, Easter had been directing ferry crew members to close and lock the valves just before Coast Guard inspectors arrived for routine, announced inspections, and instructed that they be reopened afterwards.
The case against Easter was brought by Kevin O'Connor, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut. Calling it a "crime against the environment,᾿ O'Connor said it was impossible to accurately quantify how much sewage from the ferries polluted the river and the sound, but that the amount is significant. The ferries make about 20 trips per day during the summer between the island and the ferry terminal in downtown New London, and about four trips per day during the rest of the year. The 132-foot Munnatawket can carry up to 150 passengers, while the 183-foot Race Point can carry up to 200 people. Both also carry vehicles.
"It was a tremendous amount of sewage and sludge dumped into Long Island Sound,᾿ O'Connor said. "He knew about it, he directed it, and he's responsible for it.᾿
The results of the Coast Guard investigation were prompted by an anonymous tip from a recreational boater, according to Peter Boynton, captain of the Port of Long Island Sound for the Coast Guard. The boater called the Coast Guard after seeing toilet paper and other evidence of sewage in the wake of one of the ferries, Boynton said.
"We take this very seriously,᾿ he said. "We ask the public to be our eyes and ears, and we do listen and act quickly. We hope this sends a message that we're not going to tolerate this kind of behavior.᾿
After the Coast Guard concluded its investigation, the matter was turned over to the U.S. Attorney's Office. O'Connor said after the court proceeding Friday that evidence found by the Coast Guard indicates that the ferries have been systematically dumping raw sewage overboard for many years, but because of a statute of limitations charges cannot be brought over violations that occurred more than five years ago.
"Clearly this happened for more than four years,᾿ O'Connor said. "This investigation will continue. We're going to continue to hold responsible all the parties involved. We're not ruling out criminal charges against other people.᾿
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The two ferries, which provide the only regular service to Fishers Island, are run by the Fishers Island Ferry District, an agency of the town of Southold, N.Y. The chairman of the district's board of directors, Reynolds Dupont Jr., did not return messages requesting comment. The attorney for the district, W. Richard Smith Jr., also did not respond.
The ferry district provides the only regular service to the 4,000-acre island of private estates, summer homes, beaches and woodlands. It is one of the most exclusive, affluent enclaves on the East Coast.
Both Easter and his attorney, Hubert Santos, declined to make any comment Friday. O'Connor said he is unsure whether Easter is still employed by the ferry district, where he has worked since 1969. He became operations manager in 1984. Boynton said the Coast Guard has not yet determined whether it will revoke Easter's captain's license.
As part of the plea agreement, Easter faces up to 30 days in prison as well as fines. The amount will be determined after court officials review Easter's personal finances, O'Connor said. By law, he can be fined up to $25,000 per day for each violation. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 3.
O'Connor said that while 30 days in prison may seem like a light sentence, receiving any prison time for environmental violations such as these is rare.
"We wanted to make sure there was some prison time,᾿ he said. "We want to get the message out᾿ that environmental crimes will be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible.
O'Connor said he did not know Easter's motive for his actions, and was not required to determine it as part of the case.
"Oftentimes the motive is financial, or it can be a disregard for environmental regulations,᾿ he said. "The defendant knew it was illegal to release untreated sewage.᾿
The Coast Guard's investigation included two interviews with Easter, one on the day the inspectors found the open valves, and another three days later. On both occasions, according to court documents, Easter made "several material false statements᾿ that valves were not normally kept open, and that he was not aware that the valves had been left open. He also told the Coast Guard that the holding tanks were pumped out twice a month during the summer.
But after interviews with ferry crew members and others, the investigators determined that Easter told his staff to keep the valves open. They also subpoenaed pump-out records and found that the tanks were pumped out only infrequently by a local company, Suburban Sanitation Services.
As part of his job as operations manager, Easter was supposed to arrange for pump-outs when needed, O'Connor said.
After the Coast Guard inspectors told ferry officials about the open valves, the valves were closed and regular pump-outs began. This spring, as part of construction of a new ferry terminal in New London, a new system was installed to enable the holding tanks to be pumped out at the terminal into pipes that are connected to the New London treatment plant.
The discharge of raw sewage is a public health and environmental concern, particularly in a body of water such as Long Island Sound, said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Alan Blume, one of the officials involved in the investigation. Contact with raw sewage can cause human illnesses, and it also harms plant and animal life.
"Long Island Sound is an estuary of national significance,᾿ said Blume. "It is stressed, and the state is working diligently to reduce the amount of pollution.᾿
Boynton added that the Coast Guard's ferry investigation is part of his agency's efforts to protect the sound, and that O'Connor's direct involvement in the case has been gratifying to him and the entire Coast Guard.
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