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PA MASSACHUSETTS MAN TO FACE OIL SPILL CHARGES

Release Date: 07/12/96
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PA MASSACHUSETTS MAN TO FACE OIL SPILL CHARGES

FRIDAY, JULY 12, 1996

MASSACHUSETTS MAN TO FACE OIL SPILL CHARGES

On July 3, Francis L. Empey, former owner of a marine dredging business that operated from Fish Island in New Bedford, Mass. waived an extradition hearing in New Orleans, La., where he had been arrested in connection with charges arising from an oil spill that occurred when the hydraulic barge Smithtown sank in 1991. Empey is being returned to Massachusetts by U.S. Marshals to face an indictment which alleges that he failed to assist in clean up activities and disclose his whereabouts after the Smithtown sank. When the vessel sank a sheen of oil extended two miles into Buzzards Bay and the clean-up, which ended in November 1991, resulted in the recovery of 1,600 gallons of oil. Empey owned a number of other vessels, all of which sank in New Bedford harbor. The case is being investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division and state and local law enforcement agencies.

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