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ANACOSTIA MARINA AND ITS OWNER PLEAD

Washington, D.C. - Anacostia Marina, Inc., and its owner, Thomas Long, of Forestville, Md., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Washington to violating federal and local environmental laws while operating the Marina earlier this year.

Long pled guilty to making false statements in connection with the discharge of oil from a vessel under his control and for failing to notify the Mayor about the discharge. Anacostia Marina pled guilty to violating the Clean Water Act and illegal dumping. Long faces a possible sentence of up to five years and a fine of $275,000. Anacostia Marina faces a fine of $1,025,000. Sentencing has been scheduled for January 17, 2001.

The National Park Service owns the marina property in Southeast Washington, along the shoreline of the Anacostia River. Through a concessioner permit issued by the Service in 1972 and subsequent contracts, Long owned and operated the Anacostia Marina and Repair Facility, conducting cleaning, repairing, and maintenance operations, as well as renting slips to boat owners to store their boats.

Court documents show that over the years, Long has allowed the boatyard to become a dumping ground for old boat parts and refuse, and he has permitted old boats to sink, causing oil spills that he has not reported.

In addition, on June 2, 2000, investigators observed employees of the Anacostia Marina cleaning a boat, at the direction of Long, by power-washing the hull with water and chemical solvents. The cleaning liquid and debris from the hull were allowed to run directly into the Anacostia River. The Anacostia Marina did not have a Clean Water Act permit to discharge pollutants into the River, and under the Act, the discharge of any pollutant from a point source into a water of the United States without a permit is prohibited.

During 1999 and 2000, National Park Service investigators observed large piles of assorted junk, including refrigerators, air-conditioners, motors, toilets, and waste oil from motors, disposed of at the Marina in a manner that created fire hazards, water pollution and general nuisance conditions. This site was not authorized by the District of Columbia for disposal of solid waste, so the intentional dumping of this junk violated the District's illegal dumping law.

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