Newsroom
All News Releases By Date
PA FIREWORKS BLAZE LEADS TO INDICTMENT FOR ILLEGAL DISPOSAL
Release Date: 07/03/97
Contact Information:
FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, JULY 3, 1997
FIREWORKS BLAZE LEADS TO INDICTMENT FOR ILLEGAL DISPOSAL
Neptune Fireworks, Inc. of Danala, Fla., and the company’s President Itzhak Dicksen, Vice-President Leslie Grimes and Warehouse Manager Mark Williams were charged on July 1 in a multi-federal indictment for a fire allegedly caused by the illegal disposal of hazardous fireworks waste. The defendants are alleged to have caused the Feb. 17 fire at the V. Ponte & Sons recycling facility in Pembroke Park, Fla., by illegally concealing thousands of pounds of damaged and otherwise unsaleable fireworks in cardboard bales that resulted in a fire that took six hours to control. The company is charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for the alleged illegal treatment, transportation and disposal of a hazardous waste and faces a maximum fine of up to $50,000 for each day of violation as well as up to five years probation. Dickstein and Grimes were each charged with one count of conspiracy and one count for the illegal treatment of a hazardous waste. Williams was charged with one count of conspiracy and three violations of RCRA. The defendants each face a maximum of five years in prison and/or fines of up to $50,000 per day of violation on each count. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation and the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, with the assistance of EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center.
R-99 # # #
Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases
View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.
