First, a shipping company dumped “oily waste” and other pollution into American waters. Then it lied about it.

Now the Italian company, d’Amico Shipping Italia S.p.A., is being fined $4 million for all of it.

U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Craig Carpenito announced Wednesday that d’Amico pleaded guilty in Newark federal court to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.

From August 2014 to January 2016, the d’Amico-owned ship M/T Cielo di Milano carried petroleum products between the U.S. and Canada. The ship made multiple trips to New Jersey, stopping in Bayonne and Paulsboro, as well as ports in Maryland and Florida.

Ships like the Cielo di Milano are required by law to take steps to prevent oil from leaking out of the ship and into the water. The ships’ crews are also required to keep an Oil Record Book to track the transfer and disposal of oily waste.

During the time period in question, the Cielo di Milano’s crew ignored the required protocols and illegally dumped oily waste from the ship. The crew also falsified the Oil Record Book to cover up their actions.

In January 2015, the Cielo di Milano was inspected by the Coast Guard in Bayonne. During the inspection, the ship’s chief engineer, Girolamo Curatolo, and second engineer lied to inspectors and ordered their crew members to do the same.

Once the Coast Guard left, Curatolo went a step further and burned documents related to the ship’s tanks in the vessel’s boiler flame.

The $4 million fine includes $1 million to be used for environmental conservation projects around Newark Bay.

The ship’s pollution has been a long running legal battle. In 2016, Curatolo was sentenced to eight months in prison and fined $5,000 for his role in the maritime dumping scheme, according to a World Maritime News report. He had plead guilty to the crimes in Newark federal court earlier that year.

The Cielo di Milano was sold by d’Amico in July 2018, according to a World Maritime News report.

Read the full court filing below:

Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MSolDub. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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