Three years after a Princess Cruise Lines engineer discovered a "magic pipe" used to illegally dump oil-contaminated waste into the water and notified authorities, Princess is paying a $40 million fine and apologizing for the damage done.
The cruise line pleaded guilty to seven federal charges, and its parent company, Carnival, will also have to put 78 ships through a five-year environmental compliance program. U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer called it the largest penalty of its kind. "Our open seas are not dumping grounds for waste," he said. "One thing we must never do is take our clear blue oceans for granted." Princess said it was "extremely disappointed" that the law was violated. If the plea deal is approved by a federal judge, $14 million of it will be used for environmental projects in Florida, Britain, and international open waters.
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