Dutra Dredging Co. will pay $735,000 for illegally releasing dredged material in unapproved ocean areas, including in marine sanctuary waters, federal officials said Wednesday.

The company will pay a $450,000 Environmental Protection Agency fine and $285,000 to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to fund protection and restoration projects in the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.

Investigators determined that from 1999 to 2003, Dutra leaked or dumped a total of more than 200,000 cubic yards of dredged material on 200 separate occasions. Once, it was found, a Dutra vessel also went directly through the 3-mile-diameter Farallon Islands exclusion zone, which is intended to protect seabirds and marine animals.

The incidents occurred when Dutra's vessels, which are 300 feet long and 60 feet wide, were headed to the EPA-designated deep ocean disposal site, 55 miles off San Francisco's coast and in nearly 10,000 feet of water.

The violations were connected to eight U.S. Army Corps of Engineer maintenance projects that removed 2.5 million cubic yards of sediment from navigation channels in the Oakland and Richmond harbors and Bodega Bay.

Harry Stewart, Dutra's president, said the releases of material were accidental, and that the company had spent millions of dollars to repair its equipment and upgrade its monitoring equipment.