Kirby Corp
KEX
Industrials
2
exclusion reasons
2 themes
This page is part of our public exclusion list — a transparency tool that shows which companies we screen out and why. It is not investment advice, and it is not an accusation. But it is subject to change as our understanding of the facts evolves.
Kirby Corporation is the premier tank barge operator in the United States, transporting bulk liquid products throughout the Mississippi River System. Its service includes the transporting of petrochemicals, black oil, and refined petroleum products by tank barge. These operations constitute essential midstream infrastructure for the fossil fuel industry, moving products from refineries and storage facilities to a variety of destinations.
The company has a documented history of environmental violations related to this core activity. In 2019, Kirby Offshore Marine Operating LLC was ordered to pay $2.9 million in Canada, with $2.7 million of that for the offence of depositing a deleterious substance into water frequented by fish, in violation of the Fisheries Act. Separately, the United States and the State of Texas brought an action against Kirby Inland Marine LP to recover damages for environmental harm.
While Kirby reports that approximately 98% of its emissions are from its marine transportation fleet and notes a decline in total CO2e emissions since 2015, its business model remains fundamentally tied to fossil fuel logistics with no announced transition plan away from this activity.
Kirby Corporation, through its marine transportation subsidiaries, has been responsible for multiple significant oil spills from its barge operations, resulting in criminal convictions and substantial penalties. In July 2019, Kirby Offshore Marine Operating LLC was sentenced in British Columbia Provincial Court and ordered to pay $2.9 million after pleading guilty to three charges related to a 2016 spill of 110,000 liters of diesel from the *Nathan E. Stewart* tugboat into the territorial waters of the Heiltsuk Nation. The Heiltsuk continue to seek further damages for the ecological and cultural impact of the spill.
Separately, Kirby Inland Marine agreed to pay $15.3 million in damages for a 2014 oil spill in the Houston Ship Channel that resulted from a collision involving its towboat and barges. This followed a 2016 settlement in which Kirby Inland Marine paid $4.9 million in civil penalties for another spill, with funds directed to the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. These repeated incidents involving its fleet demonstrate a documented pattern of operational failures causing environmental damage.
Research Sources
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