New Orleans Steamboat Company Charged For Allegedly Discharging Excess Ballast Material into Industrial Canal

New Orleans, Louisiana – The New Orleans Steamboat Company has been charged for allegedly discharging excess ballast material into the Industrial Canal.

On May 30, 2023, United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced in a federal court in Louisiana that New Orleans Steamboat Company (“NOSC”), was charged on May 26, 2023, with violating the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) in connection with a discharge of excess ballast material into the Industrial Canal in New Orleans in 2019.

According to the bill of information, NOSC negligently discharged and caused to be discharged a quantity of a substance into a navigable water of the United States, endangering the natural resources of the United States, without the knowledge of the Board of Directors. On or around February 12, 2019, the discharge occurred in the Inner Harbor Navigational Canal (“IHNC”), often known as the Industrial Canal.

Matt Dow, a NOSC employee, was charged with a misdemeanor violation of the CWA, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine.

If found guilty, NOSC faces a term of probation, a fine of up to $50,000, or twice the defendant’s gross gain or twice the gross loss to any victim, as well as an obligatory $100 special assessment charge.

A bill of information is only a charge, and the defendant’s guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division and the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General examined the matter. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carter K.D. Guice, Jr. of the General Crimes Unit.