PORT OF LOS ANGELES : Firm Ordered to Pay Heal the Bay $50,000

An oil spill in Los Angeles Harbor has brought the nonprofit environmental organization Heal the Bay a $50,000 windfall.

Japanese shipping firm Shinko Maritime Co. Ltd. was ordered to make the contribution and pay another $50,000 in fines when it pleaded no contest on Monday to a charge of negligence.

About 630 gallons of heavy oil spilled into the harbor when the freighter Tropical Dawn, chartered by Shinko, was refueling Aug. 9, 1993, said Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn.

Booms that were placed around the Tropical Dawn contained most of the spill, but the pilings and seawall beneath about 1,600 feet of pier had to be steam-cleaned, Hahn said.

Heal the Bay spokesman Roger Gorke said he hoped the hefty fine, ordered by Los Angeles Municipal Court Judge Barry Taylor, would be a deterrent. “Some of these companies think that environmental pollution is just another cost of doing business,” Gorke said.

Heal the Bay, which has an annual operating budget of $500,000 to $750,000, focuses on restricting the flow of debris that washes into the ocean from area streets, Gorke said.