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PA FORMER TEXAS CEO RECEIVES JAIL TERM FOR TOXIC WASTE VIOLATIONS
Release Date: 07/25/97
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, JULY 25, 1997
FORMER TEXAS CEO RECEIVES JAIL TERM FOR TOXIC WASTE VIOLATIONS
On July 10, in the Eastern District of Texas, Thomas R. Rudd, former President of Striping Technology Inc. (STI), was sentenced to 15 months in prison following his June 1996 guilty plea to one count of violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. STI is the largest pavement, road and highway-striping contracting business in Texas. Rudd directed his employees to dispose of hundreds of barrels of paint wastes contaminated with toluene, methyl ethyl ketone and waste lead by burying them in pits. The pits were dug deeply enough to reach groundwater flowing into a nearby tributary of Black Fork Creek. The investigation found that contaminated paint wastes had also been illegally disposed of at four other locations. Rudd agreed to bear the costs involved in the clean-up of all five locations, which have so far totaled more than $400,000. He also agreed to create a trust fund in the amount of $250,000 to benefit the East Texas Ecological Education Center. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI, and the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission with support from EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center.
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