Oil Driller Admits to Polluting Gulf of Mexico

Oil Driller Admits to Polluting Gulf of Mexico



October 2007

 The oil and gas drilling 
corporation Rowan Companies, Inc. pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal 
court in Beaumont to three felonies in connection with the routine 
discharge of pollutants into the Gulf of Mexico from one of the firm's 
offshore drilling rigs. 
Rowan Companies will pay a $7 million criminal fine, as well as community 
service payments totaling $1 million to five state government enforcement 
organizations for the purposes of environmental training, education, and 
enforcement coordination concerning violations of the Clean Water Act. 
Rowan also provided a community service payment of $1 million to the 
National Marine Sanctuaries Foundation to be used for preservation and 
protection projects at the Flower Garden and Stetson Banks National Marine 
Sanctuary located in the Gulf of Mexico off the coasts of Texas and 
Louisiana. 
"We will continue to use every available resource to prosecute these 
crimes which compromise our environment and our safety, including criminal 
fines and penalties," said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas 
John Ratcliffe. "I am particularly pleased that part of the fines will go 
directly to the future protection and preservation of the Gulf of Mexico 
and the Texas and Louisiana coastline." 
"The defendants sentenced today used the Gulf of Mexico as a dumping 
ground for oil and other waste," said Granta Nakayama, assistant 
administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's enforcement 
and compliance assurance program. 
The investigation conducted by the U.S. EPA and U.S. Coast Guard revealed 
that between 2002 and 2004, employees on the rig Rowan-Midland routinely 
discharged waste hydraulic oil mixed with water, used paint, paint cans, 
and other pollutants and garbage into the Gulf of Mexico and failed to 
notify the government of the discharges in violation of the Clean Water 
Act and the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships. 
The charges associated with these violations were filed in the Eastern 
District of Texas. 

In the Eastern District of Louisiana, Rowan pleaded guilty to one Clean 
Water Act felony count for discharging pollutants into the Sabine River as 
a result of sandblasting operations used to clean the rig in Port Fourchon 
in 2004. 
"Today's events are in the best interests of Rowan, our stockholders, our 
employees, and all of our respective constituencies," said Rowan Companies 
chief executive Danny McNease, accepting the plea agreement. 
"Rowan is committed to strict environmental compliance and to raising 
industry standards for environmental policies and procedures, said 
McNease. "These standards are an integral part of Rowan's daily operations 
and will continue to be so going forward." 
The offshore drilling rig at issue, the Rowan-Midland, was sold in January 
to ATP Oil and Gas. 
As a term of the company's probation, the court has ordered Rowan to 
reorganize its corporate structure to add an environmental division and to 
implement a comprehensive environmental compliance plan under which the 
company will commit that all of its rigs operating in U.S. waters will 
comply with U.S. and international environmental laws. 
In cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. 
Coast Guard, Rowan will develop new sandblasting techniques and help 
establish new industry standards for the minimization and containment of 
sandblasting debris over water, said Ronald Tenpas, acting assistant 
attorney general for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural 
Resources Division. 
"Training is an essential element of Rowan's EMS, and we are committed to 
providing all Rowan employees with the necessary tools and knowledge 
needed to make environmental compliance, along with safety, a fundamental 
part of our work every day," McNease said. "We are serious about our 
commitment to being the best in the business from both an operational and 
an environmental standpoint. 
Nine supervisory employees of Rowan who worked on the Rig Midland pleaded 
guilty to charges related to Rowan's violations. 
Michael Freeman pleaded guilty to a felony violation of the Clean Water 
Act for knowingly discharging waste oil into U.S. waters and faces a 
maximum fine of $250,000, the exact amount to be determined by the court. 
Four others each pleaded guilty to negligently discharging pollutants into 
U.S. waters in violation of the Clean Water Act in connection to the 
sandblasting operations and each agreed to pay a $2,500 fine. 
Two men each pleaded guilty to a failure to report knowledge of a felony 
in connection with the illegal discharges of waste oil from the Rig 
Midland, and each agreed to pay $5,000 in criminal fines. 
Two others each pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges for negligently 
discharging waste oil into U.S. waters in violation of the Clean Water Act 
and agreed to pay $2,500 in fines. 
Rowan performs contract drilling of oil and gas wells in Lousiana, Texas, 
the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, and offshore eastern Canada. Its fleet 
consists of 21 jack-up rigs, one semi-submersible rig, and 14 land 
drilling rigs. 

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