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Bridge Painting Company and its President Plead Guilty to Federal Crimes Relating to the Dumping of Lead Waste

Release Date: 2/14/2002
Contact Information: Donna Heron, (215)-814-5113

Donna Heron, (215)-814-5113

PHILADELPHIA – A Washington County painting contractor has pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges related to the 1996 dumping of 55 tons of abrasive sandblasting material containing lead at the company’s warehouse in Eighty-Four, Pa.

Manganas Painting Company pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly disposing of a hazardous waste at a facility without a permit, a violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

The company’s president, John Manganas, 47, of Druid Drive, McMurray, Pa., also pleaded guilty to one count of failing to notify the National Response Center after he discovered that hazardous material had been dumped at the facility, a violation of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.

The abrasive material dumped at the company’s warehouse – known as “black beauty” – was mixed with lead paint chips sandblasted from a railroad bridge in Clairton, Pa. Three company employees dumped 55 tons of this material on the ground at the warehouse in June, 1996. The employees knew the hazardous material was not a permitted at the facility, according to the indictment.

In his guilty plea, Manganas admitted that he learned in December, 1998 that the hazardous waste had been dumped at the facility.

John Manganas and his company will be sentenced on April 19, 2002. The firm has agreed to implement an environmental management system to be approved by EPA. The law provides for a total sentence of three years probation, and a fine of $92 million or both. Under the federal sentencing guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offense and the criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

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