Investigations

On March 18, 2021, James Tassin, a marsh buggy operator, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana to violating the Clean Water Act. In September 2016, Tassin negligently struck a pipeline and discharged a harmful quantity of oil into a navigable water and adjoining shorelines. The discharge affected natural resources under the exclusive management authority of the United States. At the time, Tassin worked for Great Lakes Dock and Dredge as part of the Chenier Ronquille Island, Louisiana, restoration project conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration following the Deep Water Horizon oil spill.

 

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