Mr Neutron
12/21/2002, 01:01 PM
Pay up, suckas:
MIAMI -- The nation's largest dredge company has agreed to pay a record $969,000 to help restore coral and seagrass damaged when a tugboat ran aground in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary nearly 10 years ago.
Money from the settlement announced Friday will cover reef repairs and help reimburse government agencies for their response to the Florida Bay grounding.
The Justice Department said in a release it was the largest settlement ever negotiated for a grounding in the sanctuary.
A judge initially ordered Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. to pay $368,797. Both the company and the government appealed in a test of Commerce Department powers under the 1972 National Marine Sanctuaries Act.
Appeals judges voided the original amount and sided with the federal agency, opening up Great Lakes to a potentially larger bill if the case were retried.
The sanctuary plans to combine the money with a $618,485 settlement reached with Coastal Marine Towing, a tug company also involved in the grounding.
MIAMI -- The nation's largest dredge company has agreed to pay a record $969,000 to help restore coral and seagrass damaged when a tugboat ran aground in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary nearly 10 years ago.
Money from the settlement announced Friday will cover reef repairs and help reimburse government agencies for their response to the Florida Bay grounding.
The Justice Department said in a release it was the largest settlement ever negotiated for a grounding in the sanctuary.
A judge initially ordered Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. to pay $368,797. Both the company and the government appealed in a test of Commerce Department powers under the 1972 National Marine Sanctuaries Act.
Appeals judges voided the original amount and sided with the federal agency, opening up Great Lakes to a potentially larger bill if the case were retried.
The sanctuary plans to combine the money with a $618,485 settlement reached with Coastal Marine Towing, a tug company also involved in the grounding.