Newsroom
All News Releases By Date
PR RENO AND BROWNER ANNOUNCE SHELL OILWILL HELP CLEAN UP THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER Announcement Part Of Comprehensive, Coordinated Effort To Stop Pollution Of River That Has Resulted in Over 50 Criminal Convictions
Release Date: 09/09/98
Contact Information:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 9, 1998
USA (314) 539-6068 TDD (202) 514-1888
RENO AND BROWNER ANNOUNCE SHELL OILWILL HELP CLEAN UP THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
Announcement Part Of Comprehensive, Coordinated Effort To Stop Pollution Of River That Has Resulted in Over 50 Criminal Convictions
ST. LOUIS, MO — Citing the Mississippi River as a national treasure that should be restored and protected, Attorney General Janet Reno and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner today announced that Shell Oil Company will pay to expand water quality and wildlife protection on the Mississippi River as part of an agreement to resolve allegations that it violated national pollution laws. They also announced a new Justice Department complaint filed today against Clark Refining and Marketing, a St. Louis based firm, for illegally polluting a Mississippi River tributary. Scores of criminal and other actions have been taken to protect the River from pollution.
Both cases are part of a comprehensive, coordinated federal effort, known as the Mississippi River Initiative, to keep illegal pollution ranging from raw sewage to industrial waste out of the River and to restore the River and surrounding communities to its historic grandeur. The cases being announced today as part of the initiative include the conviction of 54 criminal defendants, over $10 million worth of criminal penalties and restitution and over eight years in prison terms.
It also has produced 18 civil judicial actions worth over 18 million dollars in civil penalties and 93 administrative cases involving 104 facilities worth $900,000 in civil penalties. These cases addressed violations which included illegal dumping from barges, illegal filling of wetlands, spills of oil and other hazardous materials, sewer overflows, and discharges of chemicals such as cyanide, heavy metals and hydrofluoric acid into the Mississippi River or its tributaries.
“The Mississippi River is a part of our national heritage. We have a responsibility to restore and protect it not just for this generation, but also for all of those to come,” said Attorney General Janet Reno in remarks to an audience of federal prosecutors, local governmental officials, environmental leaders, and concerned citizens in St. Louis. “To those who think that they can get away with illegally polluting our River, we say this: we will work together at all levels of government to find you, prosecute you and make you clean up the mess you’ve made. You could even go to prison.”
“The action that we are taking today sends a clear signal that this Administration will take the necessary steps to protect public health and the environment, especially when it involves one of our greatest natural resources like the Mississippi River,” said EPA Administrator Carol Browner. “We have made tremendous progress, but must continue to ensure the protection of water quality and wildlife throughout the River and surrounding communities.”
Reno and Browner were joined at the event today by more than 10 U.S. Attorneys representing cities all along the Mississippi River. The Initiative is one of several recent Administration efforts designed to enhance and protect the nation’s waterways. It employs the cooperative efforts of the Department of Justice, the EPA’s civil and criminal enforcement groups, the U.S. Customs Service, other U.S. Attorneys, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state attorneys general, state environmental agencies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other state and local leaders to stop illegal point-source pollution in the River. Point-source pollution is discharged material that can be traced to a specific original source, usually a public or private sewer system or industrial discharge.
The Mississippi River Initiative began as a way to address the unprecedented amount of pollution currently contaminating the River. In September 1997, representatives from affected U.S. Attorney’s offices met in St. Louis for two days with officials from the Justice Department to discuss the state of the Mississippi River and how best to work together to stop point-source pollution and clean up the River.
While the Mississippi River Initiative addresses point-source pollution, the EPA and the Department of Agriculture are leading an Administration wide effort to address nonpoint-source pollution through the President’s Clean Water Action Plan. Nonpoint-source pollution is all other pollution in the River, comprising mostly agricultural runoff. The Plan builds on the Administration’s commitment to providing clean, safe water for all Americans by strengthening existing clean water programs and proposing new actions to enhance efforts that restore and protect water resources.
“The Mississippi River is unique in our country because of its economic and symbolic importance,” said Lois J. Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the Department of Justice. “The health of the River directly affects its ability to support economic activity. The ‘Mighty Mississippi’ is a symbol of America’s greatness — both past and future.”
Criminal prosecution has been key to environmental enforcement on the River. In one case, the owner of Ray’s Automotive Supply in St. Louis received 37 months in prison for unlawful disposal of hazardous waste and conspiracy to transport hazardous waste unlawfully. In another, former operators of the Barrett Refinery in Vicksburg, Mississippi were indicted just two weeks ago for 16 felony environmental crimes, including a criminal conspiracy to dump toxic pollutants into the Mississippi.
“Our message to environmental criminals is that you will not only be fined and be forced to repair damage done to the environment; you will also be sent to prison,” said Edward L. Dowd, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. “Polluters must be aware that they cannot get away with just paying a fine. All of the resources of local, state and federal governments are aimed squarely at people who pollute our water.”
As part of the Mississippi River Initiative, the Attorney General and Administrator Browner today made two announcements that involve major oil refineries along the River or its tributaries: U.S. v. Shell, et al. and U.S. v. Clark Refining and Marketing, Inc.. Both are civil matters. The Shell case has been handled by DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois, and the Clark case is being handled by DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Illinois.
After hundreds of environmental violations at Shell Oil Company’s Wood River oil refinery (located on the banks of the Mississippi River in Roxanna, Illinois, near St. Louis), Shell and its affiliates have consented to a judicial decree that will require Shell to achieve and certify compliance with all environmental laws at the Wood River refinery, perform supplemental environmental projects valued at over $10 million (and including added protections of Mississippi River water quality), and pay $1.5 million in civil penalties -- of which $500,000 will be paid to the U.S. co-plaintiff, the State of Illinois.
Environmental problems at Wood River included: illegal levels of sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide air emissions, violations of emission standards for benzene (a hazardous air pollutant), violations of solid waste labeling, reporting, and manifesting requirements, untimely reporting of emissions of extremely hazardous substances such as ammonia and chlorine, and violations of Illinois water regulations.
One of the supplemental environmental projects required by the consent decree requires Shell to expand water quality and wildlife protection on the Mississippi River. Under the decree, Shell must purchase $500,000 worth of land adjacent to the Mississippi River and must then transfer ownership of that property to the State of Illinois. The land must be appropriate for wetlands preservation, water quality protection, and wildlife conservation purposes. Another project will reduce air emissions of sulfur dioxide by 7700 tons per year and nitrogen oxides by 940 tons per year.
“In settling this case, the federal government has followed the basic principle that polluters will be required to pay for and correct the damage they cause, as well as prevent future damage,” said Steve Herman, EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “The agreement, which addresses air, water, and hazardous waste violations, reflects our commitment to address public health and environmental problems comprehensively and effectively.”
Shell and several affiliates, recently including Texaco Corporation, have owned and operated the Wood River refinery for many years. Wood River has been in operation since 1917, and today the facility covers over 2,000 acres. This refinery can process approximately 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day into end-products including propane, gasoline, aviation fuel, diesel oil, heating and lubricating oils, heavy fuel oil, and asphalt.
" These severe penalties will not only force Shell Oil into environmental compliance, but will also reinforce the message that we will not tolerate environmental degradation of our country's greatest natural resources," said W. Charles Grace, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois. "Requiring Shell to purchase a half million dollars in land adjacent to the River to donate to the State is an innovative and appropriate method to punish the polluter and preserve our national heritage simultaneously."
In the enforcement action against Clark Refining and Marketing ("Clark"), the United States alleges that the company’s Blue Island petroleum refinery (located in Blue Island, Illinois, near Chicago) has violated five federal statutes: the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To--Know Act. The complaint requests that the court enjoin the company from further violations of the environmental laws at Blue Island and assess appropriate civil penalties.
The water-related violations alleged against Clark’s Blue Island refinery include illegal discharges into the Cal-Sag Channel West of Chicago. The Channel’s waters flow into the Mississippi River. Other violations of the Clean Water Act alleged at Blue Island include dozens of discharges of illegal levels of pollutants to the local, publicly owned, wastewater treatment plant. The United States also believes that Blue Island has illegally bypassed wastewater treatment equipment and introduced into sewer systems dangerously high levels of pollutants that posed risks of fire or explosion. The United States alleges that Blue Island has discharged oil or hazardous substances into navigable waters of the United States on more than 15 different occasions between October 1993 and October 1997, including a 1,000 gallon spill into an adjoining waterway in 1994.
Blue Island has been in operation, under various owners, since the 1920's. It has operated under the Clark name since it was sold to Emery Clark in 1943. St. Louis-based Clark Refining and Marketing, Inc. has owned and operated the facility at all times relevant to this enforcement action. Blue Island processes approximately 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Principal end products include gasoline, liquid petroleum gas, jet fuel, diesel fuel, heating fuel, and asphalt.
Attached please find a list of additional criminal, civil and administrative cases that are part of the Mississippi River Initiative.
98-411 ###
MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN INITIATIVE
CASE ACTIVITY
SINCE LAST INITIATIVE CONFERENCE
ON SEPTEMBER 2-3, 1997
ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT CASES (by EPA Region)
Region II
There were no cases with discharges into the Mississippi River Drainage Basin.
Region III
1. Larosa Fuel Co. Bridgeport, West Virginia
Direct discharge to a tributary of the Mississippi River
2. SHE Rentals, Randolph County, West Virginia
Miscellaneous
3. USX - United States Steel, Clariton, Pennsylvania
Direct discharge to a tributary of the Mississippi River
4. Lakeview Coal Co., Monongalia County, West Virginia
Direct discharge to a tributary of the Mississippi River
5. Pleasant Hills Authority, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Direct discharge to a tributary of the Mississippi River
6. Three Rivers Extrusion, Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania
Miscellaneous
7. Shenano Co., Neville Township, Pennsylvania
Direct discharge to a tributary of the Mississippi River
8. New Castle Sanitary Authority, New Castle, Pennsylvania
Miscellaneous
Region IV
There were no cases with discharges into the Mississippi River Drainage Basin.
Region V
9. Village of Lombard, Lombard, IL
Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 violations
10. Lawrence Brothers, Inc., Sterling, IL
CWA Pretreatment violations
11. City of Crawfordsville, Crawfordsville, IN
Direct discharge to a tributary of the Mississippi River
12. City of Newark, Newark, OH
Violations of the CWA sludge requirements
13. Perry Creek Cranberry Corp., Black River Falls, WI
CWA Section 404 violations
14. Kewanee Boiler, Kewanee, IL
CWA Section 311 violations
Region VI
15. Deltech, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Direct discharge to the Mississippi River
16. City of Harahan, Louisiana
Direct discharge to the Mississippi River
17. Action Waste Oil Service, Walker, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
18. Airline Auto Salvage, Metairie, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
19. Almonaster Auto Wreckers, New Orleans, Lousiana
CWA storm water violations
20. Auto Dismantlers, Chalmette, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
21. Brothers Auto Repair and Salvage, Zachary, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
22. Charlie's Auto Wreckers, New Orleans, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
23. Coleman's Auto Salvage, New Orleans, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
24. Cooper's Salvage Yard, Pontchatoula, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
25. Delta Auto Wreckers, Metairie, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
26. Gabriel Paper Co., Inc., Slidell, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
27. German Auto Recyclers, Inc., Denham, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
28. Harris and Son Salvage , Baton Rouge, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
29. Haydel Brothers/Adam Wrecking Company, New Orleans, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
30. Heberts Auto Parts, Gonzales, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
31. Hingle Cal Auto and Truck, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
32. Industrial Auto Wreckers, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
33. Insurance Wrecking Company , Baton Rouge, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
34. Jerry's Used Parts and Repairs, Metairie, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
35. Kenner Auto Salvage, Kenner, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
36. L and L Auto Salvage , Chalmette, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
37. Range Road Auto Salvage, Pontchatoula, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
38. Scrappers Den, Gonzales, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
39. Superior Scrap Metals, Saint Rose, Louisiana
CWA storm water violations
40. Al Lowery,Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
CWA storm water violations
41. Bell American Homes, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
CWA storm water violations
42. Blue Quail, Edmond, Oklahoma
CWA storm water violations
43. Freeman Homes, Tulsa, Oklahoma
CWA storm water violations
44. Lambrecht Construction Company, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
CWA storm water violations
45. Pennsylvania Place, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
CWA storm water violations
46. Prestige Properties, Tulsa, Oklahoma
CWA storm water violations
47. Riverside Auto Salvage, Oklahoma City
CWA storm water violations
48. Secured Investment Advisors, Edmond, Oklahoma
CWA storm water violations
49. Taylor Precision, Tulsa, Oklahoma
CWA storm water violations
50. Uniroyal Chemical Company, Geismar, Louisiana
Direct discharge to the Mississippi River
51. Dupont DOW Elastomers, LaPlace, Louisiana
Direct discharge to the Mississippi River
52(a) - (c). City/Parish of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Direct discharge to the Mississippi River
N. Plant - 55 Mills Ave., Baton Rouge, LA
Central Plant - 2443 River Rd., Baton Rouge, LA
S. Plant - 2850 Gardere Lane, Baton Rouge, LA.
53(a) - (c). City of Kenner, Kenner, Louisiana
Direct discharge to the Mississippi River
LA38326: 1901 24th St.
LA38334: 1200 38th St.
LA66800: #1West 30th St
54(a) - (i). St Charles Parish, Louisiana
Direct discharge to the Mississippi River/ Direct discharge to a tributary of
the Mississippi River.
LA38491 Norco: NE corner of Edgewood Drive & US Interstae Hwy 61,
northern section of City of Norco
LA73539 Destrehan: one mile north of of Hwy 48 at the end of Jonathan St.,
in Destrehan, LA
LA73491 Montz: on La Hwy 628, in Montz, LA
La73521 Hahnville: approx. 0.4 mi.north of La Hwy 3160 on La Hwy 18,
in Hahnville, LA
LA73504 Bayou Gauche: on Hwy 306 in community of Bayou Gauche
LA73512 Paradis: Barber Road, Pardis LA (near City of Luling)
LA73482 Killona: La Hwy 18 in Killona, LA
LA80489 Ama: one mi. south of La Hwy 18, along 9th St.,
City of Ama
55. City of Fort Smith, Arkansas ("P" Street Plant)
Direct discharge to a tributary of the Mississippi River
56. City of Fort Smith, Arkansas (Massard Street Plant)
Direct discharge to a tributary of the Mississippi River
57. Jacksonville Wastewater Utility, Arkansas (Alfred P. Johnson Wastewater
Treatment Plant)
Direct discharge to a tributary of the Mississippi River
58. Jacksonville Wastewater Utility, Arkansas (West Eastewater Treatment Plant)
Direct discharge to a tributary of the Mississippi River
59. City of Port Allen, Louisiana
Miscellaneous
60. St Bernard Parish, Louisiana (Munster Plant)
Direct discharge to the Mississippi River
61. Jefferson Parish (Bridge City), Louisiana
Direct discharge to the Mississippi River
62. City of Donaldsonville, Louisiana
Direct discharge to the Mississippi River
63. Tri-State Metals, Inc., Amarillo, Texas
CWA storm water violations
64. Heavener Utility Authority, Oklahoma (Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant)
Direct discharge to a tributary of the Mississippi River
65. City of Stillwater, Oklahoma
Direct discharge to a tributary of the Mississippi River
66. City of Vinita, Oklahoma
Direct discharge to a tributary of the Mississippi River
67. City of Wilburton, Oklahoma (All plants)
Direct discharge to a tributary of the Mississippi River
Region VII
68. In the Matter of Steven Kraus, St. Louis, MO
Violations of the CWA pretreatment requirements
69. In the Matter of Douglas Leach, St. Louis, MO
Violations of the CWA pretreatment requirements
70. City of Manhattan, Kansas
Violations of the CWA sludge requirements
71. Oxy-USA, Inc., Barber County and Russell County, Kansas
CWA Section 311 violations
72. Village of Deweitt, Nebraska
Violations of the CWA sludge requirements
73. Village of Cairo, Nebraska
Violations of the CWA sludge requirements
74. Village of Monroe, Nebraska
Violations of the CWA sludge requirements
75. City of Wilber, Nebraska
Violations of the CWA sludge requirements
76. City of Rushville, Nebraska
Violations of the CWA sludge requirements
77. Village of Waverly, Nebraska
Violations of the CWA sludge requirements
78. Village of Table Rock, Nebraska
Violations of the CWA sludge requirements
79. City of Cozad, Nebraska
Violations of the CWA sludge requirements
80. City of Fairbury, Nebraska
Violations of the CWA sludge requirements
81. City of Falls City, Nebraska
Violations of the CWA sludge requirements
82. City of O'Neil, Nebraska
Violations of the CWA sludge requirements
83. Bankoff Oil Company, Sedgwick County, Kansas
CWA Section 311 violations
84. Berry Iowa Corporation, Iowa Falls, Iowa
CWA Section 311 Violations
85. Iowa Beef Packers, Gibbon, Nebraska
Violations of the CWA pretreatment requirements
86. Nebraska Turkey Growers, Nebraska
Violations of the CWA pretreatment requirements
87. In the Matter of Prosoco, Inc., Kansas City, KS
CWA Section 311 violations
88. In the Matter of Glacier Petroleum, Inc., Emporia, Kansas
CWA Section 311 violations
89. Purler, Cannon, and Schulte, Inc. and Castlewood Development Co., Missouri
CWA Section 404 violations
90. Mr. Paul McCune of Nebraska Hydro-Seeding, Mr. Michael McMeekin of Lamp,
Rynearson & Associates, Inc., and Mr. Cal Negus of Negus-Sons, Inc.
CWA Section 404 violations
Region VIII
91. TVX - Mineral Hill Inc., Gardner, Montana
Direct discharge to a tributary of the Mississippi River
92. Marathon Oil Company, Park County, Wyoming
CWA Section 311 violations
93. Markel Homes, Inc., Boulder County, Colorado
CWA Section 404 violations
Note: The Regions listed are those located within the Mississippi River Drainage Basin.
The 93 Administrative Cases listed were issued in response to violations at a total of
104 industrial facilities and municipalities.
CIVIL JUDICIAL ENFORCEMENT CASES
94. United States v. Municipality of Penn Hills (W.D. Pa.)
The municipality had custody of five sewage treatment plants discharging into the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, both of which flow into the Ohio and subsequently Mississippi Rivers. Penn Hills created and used "bypasses" in the collection systems, which are mechanisms that divert raw, untreated sewage from the treatment systems at the facility and allow that sewage to be discharged directly into the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers and their tributaries. Initially, The United States sought and obtained a preliminary injunction requiring the defendant to implement a remedy that would prevent the bypassing of raw sewage into these waterways. More recently, on August 25, 1998, the court entered a consent judgement under which Penn Hills must undertake a range of injunctive relief at several of its plants, including construction of some equalization basins. Under the consent decree Penn Hills also must perform supplemental environmental projects valued in excess of $800,000 and pay a civil penalty of $525,000.
The Penn Hills situation also developed into a criminal action with the discovery of falsified discharge Monitoring Reports. The result of this criminal action was the sentencing of two employees of the municipality.
95. U.S. v. ITAPCO-Kentuckiana Terminal, Inc. (S.D. Ind.)
ITAPCO owned and operated a barge terminal and storage facility on the Ohio River, the second major tributary of the Mississippi, in New Albany, Indiana. On March 10, 1993, during a barge-to-terminal transfer, a valve stem on a temporarily submerged section of pipe ruptured, releasing toluene into the Ohio River. After discovering the leak, ITAPCO stopped pumping from the barge and implemented notification and response procedures but only after discharging approximately 64,577 gallons (467,092 pounds) of toluene into the river. On September 19, 1997, the United States obtained civil penalties totaling $125,000 for Clean Water Act violations.
96. United States v. Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (E.D. La.)
The United States sued the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans and the City of New Orleans for violations of the Clean Water Act after determining that the Board discharged untreated sewage from its collection system into Lake Pontchatrain and the Mississippi River and also discharged inadequately treated sewage from an authorized outfall in the Mississippi River. The United States claimed that these sewage discharges could adversely affect human health and the environment.
Under consent decree entered by the district court June 22, 1998, the Board agrees to perform a comprehensive study and renovation of its collection system, estimated to cost $200 million, and to perform, as a Supplemental Environmental Project costing $2 million, a water quality improvement project at an abandoned local beach with the goal of restoring a portion of Lake Pontchartrain to fishable and swimmable conditions. The Board also agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1.5 million.
97. United States v. Acadiana Treatment Systems, Inc. (W.D. La.)
On January 16, 1998, DOJ filed a complaint against Acadiana for violations of the Clean Water Act and permits issued to them, at some of its package sewage treatment plants. Under a consent decree the defendants must implement specific compliance measures at all the sewage treatment plants that they own and operate in Louisiana. The decree also provides that the defendants must hire an environmental auditor to assess and monitor compliance at the sewage treatment plants for a period of five years. The consent decree does not settle the penalties portion of the case, and it expressly reserves to the United States and to Louisiana the right to seek civil penalties.
98. United States v. McKinney Smelting, Inc. & City of McKinney (E.D. Tex.)
In July 1998 DOJ lodged in district court proposed settlements for these two related cases. Both settlements involve remediation of, and environmental violations at, the McKinney Smelting, Inc. ("MSI") scrap metal recycling facility. The MSI facility discharges metals, oil, grease, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's), eroded soil, recycled material, and contaminants associated with recycled material, into tributaries of the Trinity River, which flows into Lake Lavon; both are part of the Lower Mississippi basin.
The proposed settlement with the City of McKinney (the "City") is pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended ("CERCLA"), 42 U.S.C. 9601, et seq. and the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ("RCRA"), 42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq. The United States has alleged that the City contributed to the contamination of the MSI facility as the past owner of roads which border the facility and which contained lead battery casings as fill material in the roadbed. Under the proposed settlement, the City will contribute $33,500 to fund a portion of the cleanup of the MSI facility, which will be performed by a prospective purchaser, Ferex, Inc., in accordance with a March 25, 1998 "Agreement and Covenant Not to Sue" ("PPA") with the United States.
The proposed settlement with MSI is pursuant to Section 7003 of RCRA, 42 U.S.C. 6973, Section 15(1)(C) of the Toxic Substances Control Act ("TSCA"), 15 U.S.C. 2614(1)(C) and Sections 301(a) and 402(p) of the Clean Water Act ("CWA"), 33 U.S.C. 1311(a) and 1342(p). The United States alleges MSI's improper disposal of non-liquid PCBs, failure to comply with the Storm Water Pollution Prevention requirements of the CWA, and that the disposal of hazardous and solid waste at the facility may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to health or the environment. The proposed Consent Decree requires MSI to pay $25,000 in settlement of CWA civil penalty claims, based on the company's financial inability to pay the full penalty demanded.
99. United States v. Gulf Park Water Co. (S.D. Miss.)
The District Court found Gulf Park Water Company, a wastewater treatment plant, its parent corporation, Johnson Properties, and two individual operators in violation of the Clean Water Act. Gulf Park had been illegally discharging into a no-discharge zone of the Mississippi Sound for 12 years, despite repeated efforts by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality to get the plant hooked up to a state-of-the-art Regional Wastewater Treatment facility. The Company agreed to hook up to the Regional facility, and on March 11, 1998 the Court awarded $1.5 million in civil penalties to the United States. 100. United States v. Texaco Pipeline Inc., (D. Kan.)
On July 28, 1998, the Court entered a consent decree settling Clean Water Act claims against Texaco Pipeline arising out of oil discharges into the Walnut, Osage, and Whitewater Rivers from pipelines or other onshore facilities in Kansas owned or operated by TPI.
Under the Decree, TPI will pay a $925,000 civil penalty and perform injunctive relief designed to help prevent future discharges from their pipeline systems in Kansas. This injunctive relief includes permanently removing 580 miles of gathering pipelines from service, burying lines that cross waterways, and implementing a maintenance and inspection program applying to all active lines.
101. United States v. City of Weirton, (N.D. W. Va.)
On September 1, 1998, the district court entered a consent decree resolving this Clean Water Act case against the City of Weirton. The City violated the Act by failing, since at least 1994, to comply with a permit and failing to construct and operate a wastewater treatment facility. The treatment facility deals with discharges into the Ohio River (a Mississippi tributary) and has had its construction deferred for over twelve years. Under the decree, defendant Weirton will construct the requisite treatment facility by late 1998 at a cost of approximately $2 million, and also will pay a civil penalty of $150,000.
102. United States v. Marine Shale Processors, Inc. (W.D. La.)
On February 20, 1998, the district court entered the consent decree settling claims under various environmental statutes against Marine Shale Processors (MSP). Under the decree, a new company, GTX, Inc., will purchase the assets and liabilities of MSP. GTX will dispose of the incinerator ash produced by MSP, at a cost of approximately $15 million. MSP will pay a total penalty in excess of $10.3 million. MSP*s Clean Water Act violations related to this case included wastewater discharges into a nearby bayou which is part of the intracoastal waterway between the Atchafalaya and Mississippi Rivers.
103. United States v. Darling Int'l, Inc., (D. Minn.)
A consent decree was entered on September 12, 1997 in this action to resolve Clean Water Act claims against Darling International, Inc. for violations of a permit and the Clean Water Act at its Blue Earth Plant in Blue Earth, Minnesota. Darling's rendering of animal wastes and other process operations, generate wastewater at the Plant. Darling discharges its wastewater into the Blue Earth River and its tributary, Coon Creek. Downstream from the Blue Earth River is the Minnesota River Basin, and subsequently, the Mississippi River.
The decree requires Darling to: (1) achieve and maintain compliance with specified effluent limits, (2) undertake certain engineering analysis of its wastewater treatment facility, (3) conduct compliance audits assessing compliance of its facility with a wide range of environmental laws, and (4) pay $300,000 in civil penalties. Darling has recently entered into a criminal plea agreement with the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota regarding related criminal violations
of its permit and the CWA. Under the plea agreement, Darling will: (1) pay a criminal fine of $2.7 million to the United States, (2) pay $1 million to the State of Minnesota for natural resources restoration of the Blue Earth River, and (3) cooperate with the United States in the criminal prosecution of former Darling employees who were directly responsible for the permit and the CWA violations.
104. United States v. J&L Specialty Steel, Inc. (N.D. Ohio)
On April 30, 1998, the District Court entered a consent decree resolving claims under the Clean Water Act ("Act") against J&L Specialty Steel, Inc., ("J&L") for injunctive relief and the assessment of civil penalties for violations of the terms and conditions of J&L's permit, for submitting inaccurate information in its application for a new permit, and for failing to submit information requested by EPA. Wastewater generated from the manufacture of this steel is discharged into a ditch leading to the east branch of the Nimishillen Creek, which is upstream of the Muskingum River, which flows to the Ohio River, a main tributary of the Mississippi. The Consent Decree requires J&L
to: (1) comply with the Act and certain terms of its permit; (2) implement numerous procedures designed to assure that J&L will achieve and maintain compliance with the Act and the permit; (3) pay the United States $200,000.00 in civil penalties; and (4) implement three Supplemental Environmental Projects with estimated costs to J&L of approximately $370,000.00.
105. United States v. John Morrell Co. (D.S.D.)
A consent decree between the United States and defendant, John Morrell & Co. was entered by the Court on February 12, 1998. The complaint in this action sought civil penalties and injunctive relief for violations of the Clean Water Act. The alleged violations stemmed from Morrell's inadequate reporting and record keeping practices and its exceedances of its permit. This decree resolves civil penalty claims for a $250,000 penalty and an environmental project valued at over $40,000. The supplemental environmental project consists of an environmental management audit for the Sioux Falls, South Dakota facility. The Morrell facility is a complex slaughterhouse which operates its own wastewater treatment plant. The wastewater treatment plant discharges into the Big Sioux River through a permitted outfall. The Big Sioux River flows to the Missouri River, and subsequently to the Mississippi River.
106. United States v. Clark Refining and Marketing, Inc. (N.D. Ill.)
On September 9, 1998, the United States filed a thirty-five claim complaint for relief under the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, hazardous waste management laws, and emergency release notification laws. With respect to the Clean Water Act claims, the complaint alleges that, on numerous occasions, Clark discharged pollutants, including oil, into the Cal-Sag Channel (which flows into the Mississippi via the Des Planes and Illinois Rivers) without a permit, discharged pollutants into the local sewer system in excess of permit limits, and illegally bypassed wastewater treatment equipment. The complaint also includes numerous claims alleging Clean Air Act violations, including violations of sulfur dioxide emission limitations and failure to properly control benzene waste streams. The State of Illinois has intervened in this case as a co-plaintiff.
107. United States v. Shell Oil Company, et al. (S.D. Ill.)
On September 9, 1998, the United States filed a twenty-nine claim complaint for relief under the Clean Air Act, hazardous waste management laws, and emergency release notification laws.
On the same date, the United States lodged a consent decree resolving these claims in which Shell and its affiliates agreed to pay a $1.5 million civil penalty ($500,000 of which will be paid to the State of Illinois, which is a co-plaintiff). Shell will also perform six Supplemental Environmental Projects as part of the settlement, including projects in which it will (1) purchase at a cost of $500,000 and transfer to the State of Illinois land along the Mississippi River for wetlands preservation and water quality protection, (2) reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide by 7,700 tons per year and nitrogen oxides by 940 tons per year, (3) purchase equipment for the Madison County Emergency Management Team at a cost of $13,500 and (4) identify, inventory, and dispose of (if necessary) chemicals in Roxana School District School laboratories and classrooms. Total cost of the Supplemental Environmental projects is over $10 million.
108. United States v. A & A Farms/Alshabkhoun (W.D. Wis.)
Brought under the Clean Water Act, this case involves the unauthorized discharge of pollutants into wetlands adjacent to Nettle Creek and the Wisconsin River, a tributary of the Mississippi River, in Dane County, Mazomanie, Wisconsin, adjacent to Mazomanie Bottoms State Natural Area. The defendant extended an agricultural ditch by 1,300 feet to the Wisconsin River, and spread thousands of cubic yards of excavated soil and vegetation on forested wetlands. The discharge included a trespass of some 160 feet onto State Natural Area property. The drainage ditch is impairing both the defendants' farm property and the adjacent Mazomanie Bottoms State Natural Area.
109. United States v. John Conner, Jr. (E.D. Ark.)
In April 1998, the court entered a consent decree resolving Clean Water Act violations resulting from the illegal conversion of approximately 73 acres of wetlands at 12 sites located in the Mississippi Delta region of Eastern Arkansas -- an area considered to be the nation's most important wintering grounds for migratory waterfowl. Defendants will pay a $400,000 civil penalty, will restore and create approximately 140 wetland acres and will preserve another 100 acres of existing forested wetlands in the Mississippi Delta region of Eastern Arkansas. The performance of this remedy will result in a contiguous corridor of wetlands that will protect the integrity of the Mississippi.
110. United States v. Young (S.D. Ill.)
This action involves the illegal clearing of over 100 acres of forested wetlands in Hamilton County, Illinois, without a Clean Water Act permit. Prior to the unauthorized activity, the subject wetlands were the largest tract of forested wetlands in the area, serving important water quality and flood control functions, and providing habitat for migratory birds. On June 30, 1998, the District Court entered consent decrees with three of the four defendants, resulting in the recovery of $25,000 in civil penalties, $75,000 in restoration costs, and the donation of 68.7 acres of adjacent wetlands to a conservation organization. A Motion for Summary Judgment against the remaining defendant, Artemissa Farms, Inc., is pending. A jury trial, previously scheduled to commence March 24, 1998, has been postponed.
111. United States v. Hartz Construction Company, Inc. (N.D. Ill.)
This case involves the unpermitted discharge of dredged and/or fill material on two sites totaling 8.8 acres, of which approximately 1.1 acres in County Club Hills, Illinois, drains into the Calumet River, which flows into the Illinois River, a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The defendants disregarded the terms of a CWA section 404 permit by bulldozing vegetation and topsoil from wetlands areas that the permit required them to preserve. CRIMINAL ENFORCEMENT CASES
112. United States v. Layne Christensen Co. (N.D.IL)
On June 11, 1998, Scott Czewski, was sentenced in the Northern District of Indiana to one year probation, and fined $500 plus $25 in court costs. He pled guilty to one Clean Water Act charge, negligent discharge of a pollutant into U.S. waters without a permit, a misdemeanor violation. The company, Layne Christensen, is to be sentenced in September, 1998.
113. United States v. Greg Marsh (S.D.OH)
Gregory E. Marsh pled guilty on April 30, 1998, to one count of making a false statement in violation of the Clean Water Act while employed as the operator of the Gratis, Ohio, wastewater treatment plant. Discharges from the Village of Gratis' wastewater treatment plant were required to be sampled and analyzed for several pollutants, including fecal coliform. These discharges were supposed to be sampled weekly, and the results were to be submitted monthly. The Information, filed on the same date as the guilty plea, charged Marsh with knowingly and willfully reporting false analytical test results for fecal coliform in the Village of Gratis' wastewater discharge in a monthly operating report submitted to the State of Ohio.
114. United States v. Darling Delaware (D.MN)
Darling Delaware Co., Inc., operates the Blue Earth Rendering Company located in Blue Earth, Minnesota. The plant is an animal and commercial waste oil and grease rendering facility. The Darling Delaware Corporation operates 39 rendering plants nationwide. An investigation revealed that the slaughterhouse operation was illegally discharging pollutants into the Blue Earth River in violation of the Clean Water Act.
Darling International, Inc., was ordered to pay a $4,000,000 criminal fine, of which $1,000,000 was to be remitted for restitution for projects in the area, and $300,000 was to be remitted for civil penalties. One executive, Timothy Guzek, was sentenced to one month prison, six months community confinement/work release, six months home detention, two years supervised release, and 100 hours of community service. Another, Doug Nave, was sentenced to 3 months prison, 3 months home detention, and 24 months probation. Another, Gary Keck, was sentenced to 6 months jail and 24 months probation.
115. United States v. Imperial Utilities Company (E.D.MO)
On January 22, 1998, a six count indictment charged that Imperial Utilities and Eugene and Jonathan Fribis illegally dumped and conspired to dump waste water containing sewage into Rock Creek, a tributary of the Mississippi River. Each defendant is charged with five felony counts of violating the federal Clean Water Act and one felony count of conspiracy to violate the act. Releases of between 6 million gallons and 7.8 million gallons of raw sewage and a subsequent fish kill led to charges of illegally dumping waste water against the owner of this Jefferson County sewage treatment company and his son. On July 20, 1998, Eugene Fribis, the owner, pled guilty. He has agreed to pay $100,000 in fines.
116. United States v. Ready Mixed Concrete (D.CO)
On April 21, 1998, a federal grand jury indicted Ready Mixed Concrete Co. (RMC) of Denver, Colorado, and Frank P. Spratlin, owner, for discharging industrial wastewater directly into the South Platte River in violation of the Clean Water Act.
RMC is in the business of selling liquid concrete to customers involved in building projects. The concrete is delivered to job sites by a fleet of large cement trucks. The tanks on these trucks are washed out each day and the resulting wastewater slurry is collected in a pit at the Ready Mixed Concrete facility. The concrete and water mixture was allegedly routinely discharged into the South Platte River through a storm drain at the facility. Company employees were allegedly instructed to discharge the wastewater by Frank Spratlin and other Ready Mixed Co. Officials in this activity.
117. United States v. Pan Building, Inc. (W.D.PA)
On Tuesday, May 19, 1998, Pan Building, Inc. was charged with negligently discharging pollutants in violation of the Clean Water Act. This misdemeanor charge arose from Pan Building's illegal discharge of pollutants in violation of a permit issued by the Allegheny County Sanitation Authority during March through June, 1993. These discharges occurred while Pan Building was a government contractor involved in the demolition of the Addison Terrace Housing Project in Pittsburgh, PA.
118. United States v. Wayne Fortney, Jr. (N.D.WV)
A federal grand jury indicted Wayne Fortney, Jr., a Morgantown, West Virginia-area businessman, on October 8, 1997, for knowing and negligent violations of the Clean Water Act involving a coal mine he operated in the 1980s and 1990s.
The five count indictment charges that Fortney knowingly failed to collect and treat acid mine drainage discharging from point sources associated with a surface coal mine located near Maple Run overlooking Cheat Lake near Morgantown as required by the facility's permit, that he negligently discharged wastewater from two treatment ponds at the mine, which had a pH less than that authorized by the permit, and that he knowingly discharged wastewater from the two treatment ponds, which had a pH less than that authorized by the permit. Fortney pled guilty on February 18, 1998.
119. United States v. James Chaplin (N.D.WV)
James Chaplin develops low cost housing and apartments in West Virginia with financing obtained from the Farmer's Home Administration of the Department of Agriculture. Each Chaplin development includes a small sewage treatment plant known as a "package plant" to treat the sewage generated by the development.
On May 7, 1998, a West Virginia grand jury handed down an eighteen count indictment against James Chaplin. Fifteen counts alleged that Chaplin intentionally violated the effluent limits set for six package plants, discharged without a permit at one plant, failed to operate the plants properly as required by the permits at six of the plants, and had illegal bypasses at two of the plants. Chaplin is also accused of two counts of fraud for converting management fees paid by the Department of Agriculture for his own personal use.
On June 3, 1998, the grand jury voted to add five additional counts against Chaplin for intentional Clean Water Act violations, some of which have occurred since the entry of the initial indictment.
120. United States v. J.S. Alberici Construction Co., Inc. (E.D.MO)
On May 14, 1998, Alphonsus J. Rost pled guilty to a violation of the Rivers and Harbors Act. Rost was the project manager on the Humbolt Street Site at which J.S. Alberici Construction Co, Inc., intended to raise the elevation of a dock facility located on the Mississippi River above flood stage. In order to accomplish this task, J.S. Alberici Construction Co., Inc., was required to obtain a modification to their existing permit.
The company is charged with placing a barge and fill material into the Mississippi River without a permit. Personnel of the J.S. Alberici Construction Co., who placed the barge, were acting under the direction and general supervisory control of the Defendant Rost. Neither Defendant Rost nor the J.S. Alberici Construction Co., Inc., were issued a permit to place structures into the Mississippi River.
121. United States v. Hall Buck Marine River Plant, Inc. (M.D.LA)
On May 15, 1998, Lawrence "Cap" Normand, former Superintendent of the Cleaning Plant at the former Hall Buck Marine Plant, Inc., (HBM), and Lester Brooks, former foreman at HBM, were sentenced after previously being found guilty of violating the Clean Water Act. Normand was sentenced to serve 6 months in home confinement. Brooks was sentenced to serve 6 months in a halfway house. The indictment charged that Normand and Brooks caused the illegal discharge into the Mississippi River of polluted wash water and other contaminated materials derived from the barge cleaning operation.
Previously, HBM had agreed to pay $440,000 in fines, $220,000 of which was paid to the State of Louisiana, and $220,000 to the Federal Government. HBM also agreed, as part of its corporate plea, to pay $4,000,000 in clean-up costs. Two other employees were also previously sentenced to prison.
122. United States v. Robert Scott Cork (E.D.MO)
On June 30, 1998, Robert Scott Cork was sentenced to four years' probation with six months of home detention and sixty hours of community service for violating the Clean Water Act.
According to the facts filed in this case, the defendant supervised St. Charles County employees assigned to the highway department sign crew. Over the past few summers, the defendant discharged or directed the discharge of yellow and white road striping paint directly from paint lines and indirectly from truck washout into Elm Creek, which is a tributary of the Mississippi River.
On May 8, 1998, St. Charles County, Missouri was ordered to pay $200,000 in penalties plus $800 in special assessment fees for the unlawful discharge of yellow and white traffic paint from road striping equipment into Elm Creek.
123. United States v. President Riverboat Casino (E.D.MO)
On July 2, 1998, the President Riverboat Casino Missouri, Inc., was sentenced for a negligent violation of the Clean Water Act. The President Casino pled guilty to negligently discharging a collection of sewage into the Mississippi River. The President Casino owns and operates the Admiral, a gambling facility located on the western bank of the Mississippi River at the foot of the St. Louis Arch. Casino employees allowed sewage to be discharged into the Mississippi River through holes in hoses used to transfer sewage from the Admiral's sewage collection tanks to the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District Treatment Plant. President Casino must pay a $200,000 fine and $200,000 restitution to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
124. United States v. James Lee Miller (E.D.MO)
On April 23, 1998, James Lee Miller was indicted for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act by discharging the chemical styrene at the Bloomsdale rest stop on I-55. Over 100 people had to be evacuated from their homes. In addition, thousands of fish were killed in Establishment Creek and Fourche A Du Lecleure Creek, damaging an important local recreational resource. If convincted, Miller faces a maximum sentence of three years' imprisonment and/or fines of up to $250,000.
125. United States v. Terminal Railroad (S.D.IL)
Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis owns a locomotive cleaning shop in Brooklyn, Illinois. Locomotives were cleaned of oil and grease using solvents. The waste was channeled to an oil-water separator at the site which consisted of a railroad tank car modified to treat the waste. In 1992 an environmental consultant advised Terminal Railroad officials that the oil-water separator was not functioning, and was sending untreated oil, solvents, and other wastes into the Cahokia Canal which leads to the Mississippi River. The corporation did not notify any environmental authority about the problem or obtain a permit for the discharges.
On December 5, 1997, Terminal Railroad was sentenced to pay a $500,000 fine after pleading guilty to illegally discharging waste oil and solvents into a ditch draining into the Cahokia Canal and the Mississippi River. The company also agreed to pay restitution for emergency response costs to the Illinois EPA estimated at $26,073, and was placed on probation for three years.
126. United States v. Cincinnati Steel Treating Company (S.D.OH)
On January 30, 1998, Cincinnati Steel Treating was sentenced following its guilty plea to negligently dumping used trench oil into a creek in Hamilton County, Ohio. Cincinnati Steel Treating was placed on three years probation, fined $25,000, ordered to pay $25,000 in restitution, and was required to upgrade its oil-water separation system.
Restitution of $15,000 is to be paid to Little Miami, Incorporated, which will use the funds to set up an endowment to make grants to children to buy scientific equipment toconduct research about how to improve the quality of the Little Miami River. Additionally, $10,000 is to be paid to The Thomas More College, Ohio River Biology Field Station, which will use the funds to equip a lab at a lockhouse it has acquired on the Ohio River.
127. United States v. Yates Ford, Inc. (E.D.MO)
In March, 1997, the Yates Ford service manager directed two Yates Ford employees to illegally dispose of four 55 gallon drums filled with ethylene glycol (waste anti-freeze) and one half-filled 55 gallon drum of gasoline into the sanitary sewer. The illegal disposal was accomplished by drilling holes into the drums of the ethylene glycol and by tipping the drum of gasoline over, thereby allowing the contents to flow into a sewer drain which led to the sewer system of the St. Louis metropolitan Sewer District which served the Yates Ford facility. Yates was sentenced to a $14,600 fine.
128. United States v. Osceola Products Company (E.D.MO)
On August 3, 1998, Osceola Products Company pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to a five count felony Information which charged that from August 1983 to June 1997 Osceola discharged heated untreated wastewater containing hexane and cotton seed oil into a drainage ditch which flows into Buffalo Creek, a tributary of the St. Francis River. Osceola's President, Steve Cooper, and its Environmental Engineer, George Russell, pled guilty to a one count misdemeanor information for negligent violations of the Clean Water Act. Osceola faces a maximum fine of $500,000 per count per day of violation. Cooper and Russell face a maximum of up to one year in prison, and/or a fine of up to $25,000 for each day of violation.
129. United States v. T.J. Lambrecht Construction, Inc. (N.D.IL)
On May 18, 1998, T.J. Lambrecht Construction, Inc., located in Joliet, Illinois, pled guilty to two counts of negligently discharging pollutants from a point source into waters of the United States. The Company used water and solvents to clean dirt, diesel fuel, and oil and grease from its construction equipment and vehicles. On December 12 and 23, 1996, the Company caused the wastewater, solvents, and solids from these cleaning operations to drain into a sewer that led directly into Hickory Creek, a tributary of the Des Plaines River. The Company did not have a permit to discharge any pollutants into Hickory Creek.
130. United States v. Dennis Arnold (E.D.MO)
On April 24, 1998, Dennis Arnold, Assistant Superintendent of Northeast Public Sewer
District, a.k.a., Alliance Water Resources, in Jefferson County, Missouri, pled guilty to two counts: Count I, discharging sludge from a wastewater treatment facility, Ron-Rog Treatment Plant, into Saline Creek, a tributary of the Mississippi, without a permit, and Count II, falsifying a Discharging Monitoring Report submitted to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
On August 28, 1998 Arnold was sentenced to five months incarceration and five months home confinement followed by one year supervised probation. He was also fined $5000.
131. United States v. Sabreliner Corp. (E.D.MO)
On May 6, 1998, Leonard Huber and the Sabreliner Corp. were indicted by a federal grand jury on two felony counts of discharge/disposal of a hazardous waste and two felony counts of discharge of a pollutant. According to the indictment, Sabreliner is in the business of repainting and refurbishing aircraft, and operates such a facility in Perry County, Missouri. Leonard Huber was an employee of Sabreliner as a maintenance foreman at the Perryville facility. During the regular course of activities, employees stripped paint from aircraft using stripper containing methylene chloride. The residue from this process was collected and placed into two large tanks with a capacity of approximately 5,000 gallon tanks each. In early June, 1993, Sabreliner became aware that its Perryville facility could be flooded by the Mississippi River and made contingency plans for the evacuation of its personnel and equipment in the event of a flood at the facility. In response, Huber instructed employees to open the valves on the two 5,000 tanks and discharge the stripper residue
onto the grounds. This discharge continued until it was stopped by law enforcement officers who arrived at the scene to order the evacuation. The stripper residue is a hazardous waste and pollutant. During the same period of time, the Sabreliner Perryville facility did not have a permit to treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste into the Mississippi River.
132. United States v. Breckenridge Material Co. (E.D.MO)
On July 2, 1998, Breckenridge Material Company pled guilty to a felony violation of the Clean Water Act. The company is charged with discharging untreated waste water and concrete into Deer Creek, which flows into the Mississippi River. It has agreed to pay a $250,000 fine and serve a three year probation.
In addition to the company's plea, Donald Fix, the Environmental Manager for Breckenridge, pled guilty to the negligent discharge of pollutants, a criminal misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act. He faces up to one year in prison, a $100,000 fine and five years probation. During its probation, the company must develop an environmental compliance program to prevent such violations from occurring in the future. The company's $250,000 fine includes up to $150,000 in expenditures for restitution, remediation or environmental compliance.
Breckenridge had a permit to discharge only waste water that had been treated to eliminate its corrosive nature.
133. United States v. Meramec Marine Shipyard, Inc. (E.D.MO)
In the fall of 1995, numerous 55 gallon drums of ignitable, hazardous waste containing toxic levels of benzene were buried under a dirt ramp at the Meramec Marine facility. Cans of ignitable paint waste whose contents contained toxic levels of chromium and lead were buried in a pit at the shipyard. In addition, employees of the shipyard would occasionally pump bilge waters from vessels and place containers of waste petroleum products into the Meramec River. On September 24, 1997, Meramec, of Arnold, Missouri, was ordered to pay a $125,000 fine, serve three years probation, and pay $20,995 in restitution to the EPA and $1,556 in restitution to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Edward Theodore Dlubac, general manager of Meramec, and Thomas Dlubac, Meramec's vice-president, each received eighteen months confinement, two years supervised release, and were ordered to pay $4,000 fines. Edward T. Dlubac, Meramec's president, was sentenced to one day of confinement, two years supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $3,000 fine.
134. United States v. William Rhoad (S.D.OH)
On June 18, 1998, William Rhoad was indicted by a federal grand jury on 36 counts of making false statements. Rhoad is a project manager for TCW, the management company hired by Muskingum County to oversee its sanitary engineering department, which discharges into tributaries of the Muskingum River, which flows into the Ohio River. According to the Indictment, Rhoad was responsible for reporting to the state of Ohio on the laboratory analyses of discharges from the six treatment plants. When Rhoad received analytic reports that showed violations of legal standards, he would allegedly either make up a false analysis result, provide a false explanation code, or just ignore the illegal discharge in reports to the state.
135. United States v. George Pfaffenberger (S.D.IN)
On November 25, 1997, George Pfaffenberger, principal agent for Leslie Lake & Country Club Inc., was sentenced after pleading guilty to illegally discharging untreated sewage into waters of the United States without a permit. Pfaffenberger was required to serve eight months of home detention, spend two years on probation, and pay a fine of $25,100. Pfaffenberger operated a septic system that handles sewage waste from Leslie Lake subdivision. According to the Information filed in the case, Pfaffenberger purposely installed an unplugged overflow pipe to a sewage holding tank, which allowed untreated sewage to be discharged to an adjacent wetland and creek. The unpermitted discharge continued for over a year.
136. United States v. Industrial Coating Services (S.D.IN)
Industrial Coating Services was sentenced on August 13, 1998, to pay a fine of $100,400 and was placed on probation for two years. Half of the fine will be suspended if the company successfully completes probation. Industrial Coasting Services, a metal finishing and electrodeposition plant in Indianapolis, Indiana, admitted knowingly discharging pollutants, including paint wasate, to a tributary of Bean Creek in 1995, and knowingly discharging paint waste to the city sewer system in 1997. These charges are felony violations of the Clean Water Act. Industrial Coasting Services employees allegedly dumped paint and paint waste at a loading dock drain that connects to Bean Creek, and dumped wastewater from a barrel cleaning area into the city sewer system without any treatment.
137. United States v. Kenneth Bender (S.D.MO)
On September 2, 1998, Kenneth Bender, Superintendant of Northeast Public Sewer District, in Jefferson County pled guilty to a one count felony charge of knowingly discharging pollutants from the sewer district's treatment facility into Saline Creek, a tributary of the Meremac River via a concrete outfall pipe. Bender faces a maximum fine of $50,000 per day of violation or imprisonment for not more than 3 years, or both.
138. United States v. John Cooke, et al. (S.D.MS)
On August 27, 1998, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging the former operators of the Barrett Refinery in Vicksburg, Mississippi, with 16 felony environmental crimes, including a criminal conspiracy to dump toxic pollutants, including benzene and untreated waste water contaminated with brown-colored sludge-like material, into both the Mississippi River and Hatcher Bayou. The indictment charges John Cooke, Donnie Mullins, Jerry LaBarba, and M&S Petroleum, Incorporated, with a conspiracy to violate the federal Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and to knowingly make false statements to officials of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
139. United States v. T.T. Barge Cleaning Inc. (E.D.LA)
On August 20, 1997, T.T. Barge Cleaning, Inc., which cleans and repairs ships and barges on the Mississippi River, pled guilty to violating the Clean Water Act from January 1986 until February 1997 by having employees illegally discharge untreated wash water directly from barges and tanks into the river and pushing 55 gallon drums containing rust, sludge, mud, and scale into the river from barges or dockside facilities. The plea agreement recommends that the defendant pay a fine of $300,000, be placed on active probation for 5 years, conduct comprehensive biannual environmental audits during the probationary period at the defendant's expense, implement the recommendations made by the environmental auditor, institute formal employee training regarding the handling and treatment of pollutants and hazardous waste, and retrieve and remove drums pushed into the river.
140. United States v. Tolen Marine Inc. (S.D.OH)
The corporation pled guilty to knowingly discharging a harmful quantity of oil into waters of the United States in violation of the Clean Water Act. The Information was filed under seal on September 29, 1997, and the corporation pled guilty on October 31, 1997. The corporation was sentenced on March 6, 1998 to twelve months probation and a $115,000.00 fine. The corporation has sold its fleet and discontinued its towboat business. The corporation operated the towboat M/V Claudia T on December 2, 1992, when the vessel discharged oily slop from its bilge into the Ohio River causing an eighteen-mile-long oil slick near Cincinnati. The corporation also admitted that on February 27, 1995, it operated the towboat M/V Ms. Jan while it was moored at mile 514 of the Ohio River on the southern Indiana shore. During a Coast Guard inspection of the Ms. Jan on that date, an automatic bilge pump discharged oily slop from the vessel's bilge into the Ohio River creating a visible sheen.
141. United States v. the Hanlin Group (S.D.GA)
On July 28, 1998, The Hanlin Group, Inc., owner of the LCP Chemicals plant located in Brunswick, Georgia, pled guilty to a seven count information charging various environmental and wildlife violations. Between 1991 and 1994 the plant discharged waste water contaminated with mercury and caustic soda into a marsh area, causing severe damage to wildlife and the marsh area, creek and waterways surrounding the plant. Two mid-level managers have entered pleas to Clean Water Act violations and Endangered Species violations and are awaiting sentencing.
In May 1998 the following senior LCP officials were indicted: Christian A. Hansen, Randall W. Hansen, Alfred R. Taylor, and D. Brent Hanson.
142. United States v. Meana (N.D.IOWA)
Five defendants, including Robert Meana, the operations manager; Donald R. Stoll, the former general manager; William Ries, fleet supervisor; John Hirsch, boat pilot; and Michael Sandidge, former barge cleaning supervisor; all of Newt Marine Service, a barge cleaning company, pled guilty to discharging pollutants and refuse into the Mississippi River in violation of the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act. The charges involved the pumping, shoveling or dumping of containers of fertilizer, salt, coal, scrap metal, and other pollutants into the Mississippi River at Dubuque, Iowa over a four year period.
143. United States v. HCI Chemtech Distribution, Inc. (W.D.MO)
On April 10, 1997, the defendant corporation and two employees pled guilty to federal environmental charges for sending thousands of gallons of a highly caustic chemical into the Missouri River. The Company entered a plea to one felony count of violating the Clean Water Act. Andre Rols and Marc Peterson of Kansas City, each pled guilty to one count of violating the Clean Water Act. A third employee previously entered a plea of guilty to conspiracy to violate the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act. The Corporation has agreed to pay a fine of $175,000.00 and pay restitution of $21,200.00.
Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases
View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.
