Five years after oil seeped into the New Haven Harbor by way of a leaky pipe, New Haven Terminal has agreed to pay the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) a $44,400 fine.
That fine was codified in a consent order reached between the state agency and the biofuel generation and marine storage facility.
The consent order was issued on July 11. It concerned two incidents in 2017 — one on Oct. 8 that year and another on Jan. 20 — in which oil leaked into the New Haven Harbor from an underground pipe owned by the Terminal.
Michael Vasaturo, New Haven Terminal’s vice president of operations, said the pipe in question had a “pinhole” that let oil escape into a storm drain connected to the harbor.
The consent order requires the Terminal to investigate the environmental and human health impact of the pollution, and then to create plans for “remedial action” and groundwater monitoring.
According to Vasaturo, the Terminal has already fulfilled those requirements and just needs to resubmit relevant documents to DEEP.
“In advance of the consent order, we’ve abated the situation and we believe we’ve done all the work in the consent order,” Vasaturo said.
The Terminal spent $750,000 removing the problematic pipe and replacing it with an above-ground counterpart that is both easier to inspect and removed from the Harbor.
“We had a fairly nominal fine because DEEP recognized all the work we had done,” Vasaturo said.
5 years of litigation and a $44,000 fine?!?!? That's it?!?!?!? Who said crime doesn't pay!?!?