Louisiana Man Sentenced in Connection with Causing 2016 Pipeline Oil Spill During a Restoration Project

New Orleans, Louisiana – On September 9, 2022, United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that James Tassin, age 52, of Harvey, Louisiana was sentenced to 2 years probation on September 8, 2022, for violating the Clean Water Act in connection with an oil spill.

According to court filings, Tassin worked as a marsh buggy operator on the Chenier Ronquille Barrier Island Restoration Project, which was overseen by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ("NOAA") contractors. Tassin was employed as a subcontractor by Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, LLC ("Great Lakes"). The project took place near multiple oil and gas pipelines, notably the Bay Marchand-to-Ostrica-to-Alliance ("BOA") pipelines, which ran underground and parallel to the dike on the northern side of the island.

Months after the project began, the Great Lakes site manager directed Tassin to excavate an access channel for crew boats that differed from the access channel in the NOAA project designs. This new access channel ran directly over the clearly marked BOA pipelines. Tassin spent several days working on the new access channel.

Tassin drove his marsh buggy through the freshly deepened access channel on September 5, 2016, and collided with one of the BOA pipelines, causing it to leak oil and generate a sheen in the surrounding water on Bay Long. When Tassin reported the spill to his supervisors, the site manager told him to use his marsh buggy to hide evidence that he had been deepening the unauthorized access channel, which Tassin did.

On January 25, 2021, Tassin was charged with violating the Clean Water Act. On March 18, 2021, he entered a guilty plea.

In a separate action before the Honorable Greg G. Guidry, Great Lakes was accused criminally. Great Lakes pled guilty in that case, according to court filings, based on its oversight of Tassin. Great Lakes agreed to pay $1 million in criminal penalties in addition to $3,166,667 in civil damages to the victim pipeline firm in a related civil lawsuit. Tassin's company also agreed to pay the victim an additional $1,666,667 in the same civil lawsuit, for a total settlement to the victim of more than $4.8 million.

Tassin was sentenced to two years probation, a $2,500 fine, and a $25 special assessment fee by Judge Susie Morgan.

The case was investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigation Division, the Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Commerce's Office of Inspector General. The prosecution is led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas D. Moses.