Investigations

On January 25, 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana filed an information charging James Tassin, a marsh buggy operator, with violating the Clean Water Act. The information alleges on or about September 5, 2016, Tassin negligently struck a pipeline and discharged a harmful quantity of oil into a navigable water and the adjoining shorelines. The discharge affected natural resources under the exclusive management authority of the United States. At the time, Tassin was working for Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company as part of the Chenier Ronquille Island, Louisiana, restoration project conducted by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

 

DOT-OIG is conducting this investigation with the Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigative Division (EPA-CID) and Department of Commerce OIG.

 

Note: Indictments, informations, and criminal complaints are only accusations by the Government. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.