Marine Defender Richard Udell, a senior prosecutor in the Environmental Crimes Division, US Department of Justice, explains the key elements of the the Whistleblower Provision in the US Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS). This act adopted the terms of the International Marine Oil Pollution Convention (MARPOL) into US law, and also included a provision allowing whistleblower to receive up to half of the fines if they successfully report illegal acts of marine oil pollution. Learn more about whistleblower rewards here.
Eyes in the Sky from Common Good Productions on Vimeo.
Watch SkyTruth, a small non-profit group based in West Virginia, use satellite imagery to track and identify ships involved in illegal bilge dumping and marine oil pollution around the world. Learn more about SkyTruth!
Marine Defender Carolyn Mostello, a wild bird biologist with Mass Wildlife, is in charge of protecting one of the few nesting colonies of Roseate Terns left in the United States. These endangered birds nest each spring on Ram Island in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, and face many threats to their survival.
Mostello, in this film, explains the challenges of keeping the nesting colony viable and reflects on the impact of an oil spill in 2003 that nearly devastated the nesting colony. Learn more about her work here.
Roseate Terns, a federally endangered species, almost always nest in breeding colonies with their larger and more aggressive cousins, the Common Terns. While similar in appearance, roseate terns are slightly smaller, have longer tails, and a light pink coloring on their breasts. Today, there are fewer than 4,000 breeding pairs of Roseate Terns remaining in North America.
Mostello, in this film, explains the challenges of keeping the nesting colony viable and reflects on the impact of an oil spill in 2003 that nearly devastated the nesting colony. Learn more about her work here.
Roseate Terns, a federally endangered species, almost always nest in breeding colonies with their larger and more aggressive cousins, the Common Terns. While similar in appearance, roseate terns are slightly smaller, have longer tails, and a light pink coloring on their breasts. Today, there are fewer than 4,000 breeding pairs of Roseate Terns remaining in North America.
Marine Defender Richard Udell, a senior prosecutor in the Environmental Crimes Division, US Department of Justice, explains how illegal dumping of oil violates the terms of the International Marine Oil Pollution Convention (MARPOL) and explains how this important environmental treaty is now being enforced in the United States.
Learn more about the US laws relating to marine oil pollution here.
Learn more about the US laws relating to marine oil pollution here.
Dr. Chris Reddy, senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is one of the leading oil spill experts in the country. In this short film, he investigates the lasting impacts of a marine oil spill that took place in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts in 1969. His research is helping to understand why oil washed into a salt marsh in Wild Harbor nearly fifty years ago continues to impact the environment today. Learn more about his groundbreaking work here.
Ships violating MARPOL often used "magic pipes" to carry out their crimes. Richard Udell, a senior prosecutor in the Environmental Crimes Division, US Department of Justice, shows several magic pipes seized from ships illegally dumping oil in the world's oceans, and explains the penalties paid for violating MARPOL and the US Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships. Learn more about "magic pipes" here.
Marine Defender Dr. Joanna Burger, a professor at Rutgers University's Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, explains the Torrey Canyon Supertanker Oil Spill of 1967 and the subsequent creation of the international treaty on Marine Oil Pollution known as MARPOL.
Marine Defender James Kline, a chief warrant officer with the US Coast Guard, inspects a ship for compliance with MARPOL and the Act To Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS). He explains the operation of the ship's Oily Water Separator and the importance of keeping an accurate Oil Record Book, which are both requirements under APPS. Learn more about the US laws relating to marine oil pollution here.
Marine Defender Dr. Joanna Burger, a professor at Rutgers University's Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, explains how illegal dumping of oil from ships accounts for one third to a half of all the oil entering the world's oceans.
Marine Defender John Stegeman is the director of the Center for Oceans and Human Health at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. His research involves studying the sublethal impacts of oil and other toxins on deep-sea fish from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a region once thought to be one of the purest places on earth. Learn more about his work here.
Marine Defender James Kline, a Marine Safety Specialist with the US Coast Guard’s Marine Inspections Division in New York, explains the function of the Oil Record Book in keeping in compliance with MARPOL's rules governing the release of oily water into the world's oceans. Learn more about Coast Guard Inspections of ships here.
Marine Defender Richard Udell is a Senior Trial Attorney in the Environmental Crimes Division, US Department of Justice.
In this short video Udell explains the origins and key elements of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, one of the key US laws protecting the marine environment, as it relates to the prosecution of intentional dumping and marine oil pollution. Learn more about the US laws relating to marine oil pollution here.
In this short video Udell explains the origins and key elements of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, one of the key US laws protecting the marine environment, as it relates to the prosecution of intentional dumping and marine oil pollution. Learn more about the US laws relating to marine oil pollution here.
Oil in Our Waters is a 23-minute documentary film about marine oil pollution and its impact on the marine environment and ecosystems. A team of US Coast Guard Inspectors and Marine Defender Richard Udell, a senior attorney with the US Department of Justice, Environmental Crimes Division, explain how the intentional dumping of oil by ships may be the most common environmental crime in the world and accounts for nearly half of all the oil released into the world's waters by human actions.
The films also explains the origins of MARPOL, which was the first international agreement on protecting the marine environment, as well as other key Oil Pollution Laws in the US like OPA 90 and APPS, explains the requirement that ships use an oily water separator and keep an accurate oil record book, while also exploring the vital role played by Whistleblowers in reporting these crimes, who can receive up to half the fines if the polluters are successfully prosecuted.
This film also features Marine Defender Dr. Joanna Burger, a coastal bird biologist at Rutgers University, who is studying endangered birds like the Red Knots, which migrate across the world each year to nest and breed, and Marine Defender Dr. John Stegeman, the director of the Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health in Massachusetts, who studies the impact of oil pollution on deep-sea fish from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a region once thought to be one of the purest on earth.
The films also explains the origins of MARPOL, which was the first international agreement on protecting the marine environment, as well as other key Oil Pollution Laws in the US like OPA 90 and APPS, explains the requirement that ships use an oily water separator and keep an accurate oil record book, while also exploring the vital role played by Whistleblowers in reporting these crimes, who can receive up to half the fines if the polluters are successfully prosecuted.
This film also features Marine Defender Dr. Joanna Burger, a coastal bird biologist at Rutgers University, who is studying endangered birds like the Red Knots, which migrate across the world each year to nest and breed, and Marine Defender Dr. John Stegeman, the director of the Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health in Massachusetts, who studies the impact of oil pollution on deep-sea fish from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a region once thought to be one of the purest on earth.
Marine Defender James Kline, a Marine Safety Specialist with the US Coast Guard’s Marine Inspections Division in New York, explains the function of the Oily Water Separator in keeping in compliance with MARPOL's rules governing the release of oily water into the world's oceans. Learn more about Coast Guard Inspections of ships here.
This film offers a dramatic reading of a whistleblower note from the crew of the engine room of the merchant vessel Iorana, which triggered a US Coast Guard investigation that resulted in the ship’s owner, Irika Shipping S.A., pleading guilty and paying a $4 million dollar fine. Read more about whistleblower notes and whistleblower awards.