  
4/1/2026
 Do you have information about an environmental crime? Give us a call at 877-52-WATER (877-529-2837), or email info@wtny.us
April 1, 2026 425 pm EDT
US Bureau
CrimeBox
Historic Conviction Fiscal Year 2012; Case ID# CR_2233 (Indiana)
Mint farmer placed on 8 months home detention for illegal discharges
The Defendant in this case is a mint farmer located in Walkerton, Indiana. The harvested mint crop is steam distilled with a boiler system to produce a valuable aromatic oil. A 55 gallon drum of mint oil was worth $10,000 in 2010. During the extraction process, water is heated to near boiling point. The wastewater containing mint oil was to be treated to remove contaminants that cannot be released to the environment under the Defendant's National Pollutant Discharge and Elimination System (NPDES) permit.
Reports of foreign material in a water body received by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management were followed up with the assistance of the US Protection Agency-Criminal Investigation Division. The felony charges were laid in 2011, with the Court receiving the bill of information. The Defendant admitted to repeated dumping of the hot distilling/extraction process water during the summer of 2010, knowing that it was above the safe temperature, and contaminated with mint oil. Hot water and oil reached Robbins Ditch, classified as water of the USA, and protected by the Clean Water Act.
The announcement of the verdict and sentencing came from Federal District Court, Northern District of Indiana in June, 2011. The press release stated the Defendant plead guilty to a single charge, knowing violation of the Clean Water Act. The Defendant was sentenced to 8 months of home detention, a significant federal fine and 24 months of supervision by the probate officer of the Court.
Home Detention: 8 months; Federal Fine: $20,000; Probation: 24 months
See last week's CrimeBox, "Municipal Wastewater Plant fails to report untreated sewage overflows, judge sentences a year in prison", here.
CrimeBox briefs are compiled from EPA Criminal Enforcement records.
|
|
|
|
