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Brilliant Jewelers In Manhattan Sentenced For Environmental Crimes

Release Date: 03/09/1999
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(#98034) NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Brilliant Jewelers, Inc., a Manhattan jewelry manufacturer, and its production manager, Alex Galperin, learned that it doesn't pay to violate environmental law, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. Late last week, Brilliant Jewelers, Inc., formerly located at 125 West 45th Street and now located at 902 Broadway in New York City, and its production manager were sentenced in federal court to probation and ordered to pay a total $100,000 in fines for violating the federal Clean Water Act.

Brilliant Jewelers, Inc. was sentenced on one count of violating, for a four year period, pollution limits for its wastewater discharge. The wastewater from this facility is sent to New York City's North River Wastewater Treatment Plant on the Hudson River. In addition, both the company and Alex Galperin were sentenced for filing a report to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) that had been falsified to make it appear that Brilliant was meeting, when it was not, one of its pollution limits. Alex Galperin was sentenced to two years of probation, including six months of house arrest, and was fined $2,000 for his part in the criminal activities. The company was fined $98,000 and placed on two years of corporate probation, requiring it to retain a court-appointed consultant to monitor its compliance with environmental law. As part of its probation, Brilliant Jewelers, Inc. is required to place a full-page announcement in a major jewelry manufacturer's trade publication that contains an accounting of its violations, the punishment imposed and the steps taken to prevent future violations.

"This company thought they could get away with ignoring environmental requirements, and they were very wrong," said EPA Region 2 Administrator, Jeanne M. Fox. "EPA will continue to go after environmental criminals, and when we catch them, they will face jail or home confinement, heavy fines and probation."

In October 1998, Brilliant Jewelers, Inc. pled guilty to violating the limit on concentrations of pollutants in its wastewater. Under the federal Clean Water Act, metal finishers must meet standards, called pre-treatment standards, that limit the concentrations of cyanide and various metals including cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, zinc and silver in their discharges to wastewater treatment plants. These limits are set because high levels could cause a malfunction of a wastewater treatment plant and damage water quality where wastewater from the treatment plant is discharged. High levels of metals can also affect sludge quality, which can be important if the sludge is to be used for agricultural purposes or incinerated. In this case, metal levels did not affect the North River plant's waste treatment processes, the water quality in the Hudson River or sludge quality. However, if enough metal finishers and other industries violated the pre-treatment standards, there could be impacts to the environment and to the wastewater treatment plant. Brilliant Jewelers, Inc. and Alex Galperin also pled guilty to filing a report with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) that falsely showed compliance with the pre-treatment limit for silver.

The case was referred to EPA by NYCDEP. The subsequent investigation was headed by EPA's Criminal Investigations Division and the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney, Anne Ryan for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Mary Jo White.

For more information contact:
Mary Mears, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3669 FAX: 212-637-5046 E-Mail: [email protected]