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CrimeBox Environmental Crimes Historic Conviction: Fiscal Year 1995; Case ID# CR_583 Metal plating company sentenced for discharging heavy metals to public treatment works One of 56 Criminal Prosecutions in Ohio under the Clean Water Act (from 1989-2020) The defendants in this case are a company engaged in metals electroplating and the owner of the company. The defendants were charged with violating the Clean Water Act by the illegal discharge of a pollutant. Electroplating is a process involving heavy metals toxic to the environment, cadmium and zinc. Companies engaged in the production of heavy metal contaminated wastewater are required to contain the wastewater for pre-treatment prior to discharge, or to be collected processed appropriately by a third party. Specific terms for discharge of the treated wastewater include the maximum contaminant levels allowed, monitoring, reporting and record keeping. A 2006 paper published in the Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology examines the toxicity of cadmium and result on human health. Cadmium is common in industrial processes. Its serious toxicity has been undisputed common knowledge for more than a century. Researcher and author Johannes Godt et al state the main source of cadmium pollution in the environment comes from dumping and incineration of waste materials. The defendants plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act, the owner of the company admitting to running a bypass pipe for produced wastewater to discharge straight to the publicly-owned treatment works. Officials estimate 15 pounds of cadmium and 150 pounds of zinc were discharged daily. The sentence delivered in 1995 was a small fine with two years of probation for each defendant and 200 plus hours of community service. Federal Fines and assessments: $250; Community Service: 420 hours; Probation: 48 months |