Bad Luck

An Irishman who last December made the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “Most Wanted List” of 23 environmental crime fugitives for illegal dumping in San Diego Bay, has been apprehended on the island of Malta. Fifty-eight-year-old Joseph Anthony O’Connor was indicted here two years ago for dumping plumbing fixtures, tile, concrete decking, and other refuse from the Maru, an ex–drug smuggling ship O’Connor bought at a federal action and docked at the B Street Pier and along the waterfront near the Star of India in 2006. According to the 2007 indictment, the underwater debris mound that resulted from the demolition was 15 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 3 feet high. Last week, O’Connor, who was denied bail as a flight risk, vowed through his lawyer to fight extradition to San Diego. If convicted, he could get 33 years behind bars.