The United States Environmental Protection Agency and Departmentof Justice cracked down on many major companies for violatingenvironmental laws such as the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Clean AirAct (CAA). Many companies were ordered to pay a hefty fine as wellas spending additional money to clean up industrial sites and takepreventative measures to ensure water and air safety.

Here's a list of the biggest EPA settlements from 2012.

10. Suzuki Motor Corporation and American Suzuki MotorCorporation Administrative Settlement

Amount: $885,000

The EPA announced a settlement with recreational vehiclemanufacturer, American Suzuki Motor Corporation and Suzuki MotorCorporation, to pay an $885,000 penalty for allegedly importing andselling 25,458 uncertified all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and off-roadmotorcycles in the U.S. ATVs and motorcycles that are not certifiedmay be operating without proper emissions controls and can emitexcess hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides that can cause respiratoryillnesses, aggravate asthma and contribute to the formation ofsmog.

(AP Photo/U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission)

9. Sterling Suffolk Racecourse LLC Clean Water ActSettlement

Amount: $1.25 million, plus $3 million and$742,000

The EPA and the DOJ announced that Sterling Suffolk RacecourseLLC will pay a civil penalty of $1.25 million to resolve violationsof the CWA at its Suffolk Downs racetrack facility in Revere andEast Boston, Mass. The company is also spending more than $3million to prevent polluted water from entering nearby waterwaysand will perform three environmental projects worth approximately$742,000 that will provide water quality monitoring and protectionefforts for more than 123 square miles of watershed.

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

8. Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Settlement

Amount: $6 million, plus $2 million

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (Scotts) will pay over $6 millionpenalty and spend $2 million on environmental projects under asettlement that resolves violations under the Federal Insecticide,Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Scotts distributed or soldunregistered, canceled, or misbranded pesticides, includingproducts with inadequate warnings or cautions. This is the largestcivil settlement under FIFRA to date.

(AP Photo/Mel Evans)

7. Hess Corporation Clean Air ActSettlement

Amount: $850,000, plus $45 million

Hess Corporation has agreed to pay an $850,000 civil penalty andspend more than $45 million in new pollution controls to resolveClean Air Act (CAA) violations at its Port Reading, N.J. refinery,the DOJ and EPA announced.

(AP Photo/CX Matiash)

6. Settlements Reached at B. F. Goodrich Superfund Sitewith Pyro Spectacular Industries and Emhart Industries

Amount: $50 million

EPA and DOJ announced that two settlements have been filed, onein October and the other in December 2012, with the U.S. DistrictCourt for the Central District of California. These settlementsresult in a combined total of nearly $50 million to clean upcontamination at the B. F. Goodrich Superfund Site in SanBernardino County.

(Pure Water Gazette)

5. Hazardous Waste Generators Agree to $56.4 MillionCleanup of Former Texas Waste Disposal Site

Amount: $56.4 million, plus $900,000

The DOJ and EPA reached agreement with over three dozencompanies and government agencies that will result in a $56.4million cleanup of the Malone Services Company Superfund Site inTexas City, Texas, and recovery of an additional $900,000 incleanup costs owed to EPA.

(NOAA)

4. MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC Settlement

Amount: $90 million

MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC has agreed to settle its liability in theDeepwater Horizon oil spill in a settlement with the U.S. valued at$90 million, announced the DOJ, U.S. Coast Guard and EPA.Approximately $45 million of the $90 million settlement is goingdirectly to the Gulf in the form of penalties or expeditedenvironmental projects.

(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

3. Dairyland Power Cooperative Settlement

Settlement: $150 million

The EPA and DOJ announced a CAA settlement with Dairyland PowerCooperative (DPC) that will cover the utility's three power plantsin Alma and Genoa, Wis. DPC has agreed to invest approximately $150million in pollution control technology that will protect publichealth and resolve violations of the CAA.

2. BP Whiting Settlement

Amount: $8 million, plus $400 million

The EPA and DOJ announced that BP North America Inc. has agreedto pay an $8 million penalty and invest more than $400 million toinstall state-of-the-art pollution controls and cut emissions fromBP's petroleum refinery in Whiting, Ind.

(AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

1. Transocean Settlement

Amount: $1 billion

According to the terms of the settlement, Transocean will pay a$1 billion civil penalty to resolve alleged violations of the CleanWater Act (CWA) resulting from the discharge of oil into the Gulfof Mexico from the loss of the Deepwater Horizon and the April 20,2010 blowout of the Macondo Well, and will additionally performsubstantial injunctive relief to improve the safety of Transocean'soil drilling practices, as well as its oil spill response andpreparedness.

(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)