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PA NEW MEXICO FOOD PROCESSOR AND MANAGER PLEAD GUILTY FOR VIOLATING THE CLEAN WATER ACT
Release Date: 08/14/98
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 1998
NEW MEXICO FOOD PROCESSOR AND MANAGER PLEAD GUILTY FOR VIOLATING THE CLEAN WATER ACT
In the first Clean Water Act (CWA) in Southern New Mexico, Cervantes Enterprises Inc. (CEI) of Vado, N.M., and Orlando D. Cervantes, Vice-President and General Manager of CEI, both pleaded guilty on August 6, in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico in Albuquerque to violating the Clean Water Act. The charges arise from incidents in October 1994 and October 1996, water containing sediments from processed chiles was discharged into an irrigation drainage ditch which eventually empties into the Rio Grande. The water samples showed unacceptably high levels of Biochemical Oxygen Demand and Chemical Oxygen Demand which can cause significant reductions in the level of oxygen available to aquatic organisms. CEI has agreed to pay a $100,000 fine. Cervantes faces a maximum of up to one year in prison and fines of up to $25,000, when sentenced. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division.
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