The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency settled on a $6.5 million settlement with StarKist Co. and its subsidiary, Starkist Samoa Co., owned by Korean company Dongwon, to resolve federal environmental violations at their tuna processing facility in American Samoa.
The American Samoa government is now formally a co-plaintiff in the revised action. Starkist is required to pay $2.6 million to American Samoa and $3.9 million to the United States. Starkist will also pay $200,000 to resolve prior Clean Water Act violations and provide $88,000 in emergency equipment to American Samoa in case of chemical releases.
They also need to reduce and eliminate stormwater discharges to Pago Pago Harbor and reduce their pollutants by at least 85 percent.
The proposed consent decree is still under review. For more information on the agreement and on the statutes it covers, visit https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.
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