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FLORIDA COMPANY PLEADS GUILTY TO VIOLATING CLEAN WATER ACT
Release Date: 08/20/2001
Contact Information:
FOR RELEASE: MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 2001
FLORIDA COMPANY PLEADS GUILTY TO VIOLATING CLEAN WATER ACT
Luke C. Hester 202-564-7818/[email protected]
Grease Depot, Inc. of Largo, Fla., pleaded guilty on August 9 to violating the Clean Water Act by failing to report sampling results to the City of Largo in violation of a pretreatment permit. Under the permit, Grease Depot was required to pretreat wastewater discharged into the Largo sewer system. During 1999, the defendant had been found to be in violation of its permit and the City of Largo increased the cost which Grease Depot had to pay to treat its wastewater. In January 2000, the defendant hired a private firm to test its wastewater for Chemical Biological Oxygen Demand (CBOD) and then submitted the results to the City of Largo. The defendant knowingly omitted the reports that stated it was out of compliance. Discharging wastewater with higher than permitted levels of CBOD can raise the cost of sewage treatment at public treatment facilities and also be harmful to fish and aquatic life if wastewater with high levels is released from sewage treatment plants into surface waters. When sentenced, the defendant faces a fine of up to $500,000. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI, the City of Largo, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa.
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