Former Tugboat Firm Boss Fined for Polluting SF Bay

The former manager of a tugboat and barge company has been convicted for ordering employees to dump pollutants into San Francisco Bay.

A federal jury on Tuesday found 42-year-old Mark Guinn, of Longview, Wash., guilty of a Clean Water Act violation and one count of conspiracy to violate the Clean Water Act. Jurors acquitted Guinn of one Clean Water count and did not reach a verdict on another.

Prosecutors say Guinn, as manager of Brusco Tug & Barge, dumped dredged materials in the waters around Winter Island, rather than properly offloading them on the island, between 2003 and 2007. Winter Island is a privately owned island in the Delta, near Pittsburg.

The company previously pleaded guilty to a Clean Water Act violation and fined $1.5 million.

Guinn faces up to five years for conspiracy and three years for the violation, plus fines, when he's sentenced Aug. 26.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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