12/26/2023
WT Staff
CWA CrimeBox
Environmental Crimes Historic Conviction: Fiscal Year 1997; Case ID# CR_669 (Ohio)
Jail time for heavy metal discharges
One of 56 Criminal Prosecutions in Ohio under the Clean Water Act (from 1989-2022)
Two defendants charged in this case entered guilty pleas for violation of Clean Water Act Section 33, knowing discharge of pollutants into waters of the state.
The defendants in this case are a metal plating company responsible for generating discharging industrial wastewater without a discharge permit, along with the owner of the company, who denied making illegal discharges over a period of years in 1991 to 1995.
Wastewater containing chromium, zinc and nickel was released untreated from a metal plating company facility into a storm drain leading to Hurford Run in the Tuscarawas River watershed. Tuscarawas River watershed is a subregion of the Muskingum River drainage area feeding Ohio River. Note the Ohio River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River, draining surface runoff and contaminants from central USA into the Gulf of Mexico.
Toxic heavy metals were found contaminating creeks leading to Tuscarawas River, EPA and state investigators traced back to a storm drain used by the defendant. The source of the discharge was found without a National Pollutant Discharge permit, which would have specified the acceptable levels of contaminant allowed to be discharged to waterways, vital to the protection of downstream drinking water sources.
Had this defendant conducted the safety checks and balances required by the Clean Water Act and a discharge permit, the industrial wastewater would have passed through a pre-treatment system for removal of heavy metal contaminants. The concentrated waste stream would have been properly disposed of by permitted hazardous waste handlers. The treated water, also called effluent, would have been tested for contaminants, with results recorded and reported to authorities prior to discharge.
Prison: 6 months Home Detention: 6 months Federal fines: $80,000; Community Service: 200 hours Probation: 12 months
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