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PA FLORIDA BAY POLLUTION BRINGS INDICTMENT
Release Date: 05/05/97
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FOR RELEASE: MONDAY, MAY 5, 1997
FLORIDA BAY POLLUTION BRINGS INDICTMENT
Michael Bostick of Tavernier, Fla., was indicted in U.S. District Court in Miami, Fla., on two counts of violating the Clean Water Act for the alleged unpermitted removal of an earthen plug that had been placed across a canal at Sexton Cove at the Sexton Cove Estates in Key Largo. Removal of the plug during the hours of darkness on Thanksgiving Day 1994 allegedly allowed polluted water from the canal to enter Florida Bay. As a result of the defendant's alleged activities, mangrove trees were destroyed. The defendant also allegedly allowed a backhoe to tumble from the embankment into the canal, requiring a tow truck for its recovery. The plug had been in place since 1982, when a federal judge required the original developer of Sexton Cove Estates to install it to prevent septic tank drainage from entering Florida Bay. If convicted, Bostick faces a maximum of up to four years of incarceration and/or up to $350,000 in fines. The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division.
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