Good Guys Can Finish First

Twelve crew members who worked for the Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG) were awarded $437,500 each for reporting illegal dumping by OSG oil tankers. OSG is one of the largest oil tanker firms in the world. The company pleaded guilty to dumping thousands of gallons of waste oil and sludge into the ocean and systematically altering its logs to hide the activity.

The 12 "whistleblowers" were appalled by the illegal activity and took steps to report the crimes. One crew member, who was threatened with firing if he did not participate in the polluting, kept a secret record of the dates of the polluting. Another crew member called the Coast Guard and described how an oil sensor was being "tricked" to appear as if no oil were being discharged. OSG agreed to pay a fine of $37 million for the dumping.

Sometimes, the good guys do win.

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