������Ƶ

When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reached a $6.5 million settlement with Starkist Co. to resolve alleged environmental regulations at its tuna processing facility in American Samoa in 2018, it seemed the tuna company would clean up its act.

Unfortunately, that’s apparently not the case. According to the EPA, Starkist and its subsidiary Starkist Samoa Co. will pay $84,500 in stipulated penalties for violating the settlement agreement.

According to a news release issued on Monday, Starkist violated the 2018 settlement by making  unauthorized discharges from the facility to Pago Pago Harbor. In one instance, StarKist discharged 80,000 gallons of wastewater to the inner harbor, the EPA said. In addition, on 27 days, Starkist routed wastewater around a required treatment measure to bypass a step in the required wastewater treatment process, the EPA said.

“EPA will continue to work closely with StarKist to ensure the needed safety and pollution control upgrades are realized, per our agreement,”EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Mike Stoker said in a statement.  “With our American Samoa EPA partners, we will protect Pago Pago Harbor and the marine environment of American Samoa.”