A former tugboat company manager has been convicted in federal court in San Francisco of conspiring to violate the U.S. Clean Water Act by dumping dredged materials in the San Francisco Bay.
Mark Guinn, 42, of Longview, Wash., was formerly the general manager of Northern California operations of Brusco Tug & Barge Inc.
He was convicted by a jury in the court of U.S. District Judge Susan Illston Tuesday of one count of conspiring to pollute the Bay between 2003 and 2007 and one count of dumping dredged materials into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta near Winter Island, northeast of Pittsburg, on Jan. 7, 2007.
Guinn was acquitted of a third count of dumping dredged materials in 2003 and the jury was deadlocked on a fourth count of dumping materials in 2006.
Brusco had a contract to dispose of dredged material on the island, for a fee, for use in levee maintenance, but had no permit to dump the material in the water, according to the indictment.
U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello said the dumped material was contaminated and that marine life in the Bay should not have been exposed to it.
Guinn, who is currently free on a $250,000 bond, will be sentenced by Illston on Aug. 26. The conspiracy count carries a possible maximum penalty of five years in prison and the dumping count carries a maximum of three years in prison.
Brusco Tug & Barge Inc. pleaded guilty before Illston last year to a charge of dumping dredged materials direct into Delta waters surrounding Winter Island on April 17, 2003.
The company was sentenced to pay $1.5 million in fines and penalties.
