Enforcement Action Summary FY 2006 - February

February 6, 2006

February 13, 2006

Region Recovers $27,000 from Eight Settling Parties through the CERCLA Cost Recovery Process for the New Buffalo Asbestos Site (New Buffalo, MI).

A trailer containing 1,200 to 1,500 bags of asbestos was found abandoned at a truck stop in New Buffalo, Michigan (Site). EPA investigators mobilized and conducted a time critical removal of the asbestos at the Site. EPA identified eight viable potentially responsible parties at the Site, all of which entered into individual CERLCA Section 122(h)(1) Agreements for the Recovery of Past Response Costs. Six of the settling parties—Community School District 200 ( Sandburg Elementary School), Lee County Housing Authority, Loyola University Medical Center, Loyola University of Chicago, North Central College, and Northern Illinois University—will each pay $3,000. The remaining settling parties, Bechstein Construction Company and Champion Environmental Services, will pay $4,000 and $5,000, respectively. EPA will recover $27,000 of approximately $34,000 in past response costs at the Site. On January 12, 2006, U.S. EPA published notice of the agreements in the Federal Register. U.S. EPA received no public comments on the notices. The agreements became effective on February 14, 2006, when EPA provided written notice to the settling parties that the public comment period had closed and that it had not received any comments that would cause it to withdraw or modify the agreements.

Primary contact: Ann Coyle, 312-886-2248.

On February 10, 2006 Region 5 filed a Consent Agreement and Final Order to commence and conclude case against the Howbert Company, LLP of Mount Hope, Ohio.

On February 10, 2006, Region 5 filed a Consent Agreement and Final Order (CAFO) simultaneously commencing and concluding an administrative penalty action against Howbert Company, LLP of Mt. Hope, Ohio for violations of the Federal, Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), 7 U.S.C. §136, et al., concerning the production of a rat bait in an unregistered establishment, the production of the rat bait with ingredients not approved under the registration for the rat bait, and the distribution of misbranded rat bait products. The CAFO requires Howbert to pay a penalty of $12,875 in installments with interest. The proposed penalty in this matter was $26,000. Region 5 determined that it was appropriate in regard to the company’s ability to pay to mitigate the settlement penalty to $12,875.

Contact: Michael Berman (312) 886-6837

February 20, 2006

Superseding Indictment filed charging environmental cleanup contractor with mail fraud, money laundering and making a false statement.

On February 14, 2006, Timothy A. Boisture was charged in a Superseding Indictment on three counts of mail fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of making a false statement. According to the charges filed, Boisture was a partner in Environmental Consulting and Engineering Co., Inc. (ECECI), an environmental clean-up firm. In 1999, ECECI conducted a remediation project for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) which involved cleaning up an inactive oil production facility and plugging approximately 50 oil and injection wells, known as the Claremark Oil and Bayou Creek projects. Boisture is charged with mail fraud in connection allegedly false invoices to IDEM which included charges of $12,600 for installing non-existent cast iron bridge plugs during the well plugging. Allegedly, Boisture split the proceeds with a subcontractor and a former Indiana DNR inspector. The subcontractor and the former inspector previously pleaded guilty to making false statements concerning the well plugging reports, and are now awaiting sentencing. Boisture also allegedly committed mail fraud in connection with the preparation of invoices to IDEM which contained charges of $32,224.80 for “tubing rental,” despite the fact that the subcontractor did not charge ECECI for tubing rental.

Boisture also allegedly received $100,200 from a mail fraud scheme in which a company owned by the former Indiana DNR inspector submitted vastly inflated invoices to ECECI for disposing of contaminated wastewater from the Claremark Oil and Bayou Creek projects. The Superseding Indictment also alleges that Boisture induced another subcontractor on the Bayou Creek project to submit a fraudulent invoice to ECECI for the disposal of contaminated material, based solely Boisture’s claim that he had disposed of material. ECECI subsequently paid the subcontractor $15,000 for the work, from which the subcontractor allegedly gave Boisture $7500. Boisture is also charged with a mail fraud arising from a separate remediation project known as the Johnson Fork Landfill in Kentucky, in which Boisture caused an ECECI subcontractor to submit an inflated invoice for work performed. Boisture then allegedly received $33,313 of the fraudulently-obtained proceeds.

The Superseding Indictment also charges Boisture with engaging in a monetary transaction in property criminally derived from the bank fraud schemes by redeeming a certificate of deposit in the amount of $53,992.56. Finally, the Superseding Indictment alleges that Boisture made false statements to investigators during an interview that occurred in October 2004.

If convicted, Boisture faces punishment of up to 20 years imprisonment on each of the mail fraud counts, up to 10 years on the money laundering count, and up to 5 years on the false statement count. In addition, if convicted, he may be fined up to $250,000 on each count. The indictment is an allegation only, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at trial or by a guilty plea.

Contact: David M. Taliaferro, ORC, (312) 886-0815.

Region 5 signs a Consent Agreement and Final Order with Trialco, Inc.

Region 5 filed a complaint on September 20, 2005, alleging violations of 40 CFR Part 63, Subpart RRR (NESHAPS for Secondary Aluminum Production) and seeking a penalty of $165,746. On February 13, 2006,Region 5 signed a Consent Agreement and Final Order (CAFO) with Trialco, Inc. to settle these violations at its facility in Chicago Heights, Illinois. The settlement includes two SEPs that will reduce total combustion emissions by at least one-third, and will require stack-testing to demonstrate the effectiveness of a technology to significantly reduce hydrogen chloride and dioxin emissions in Secondary Aluminum facilities. Additionally, Trialco, Inc. will pay a penalty of $20,000 based on cooperation, SEP-related mitigation, and inability to pay.
Contact: Alan Walts, 312-353-8894

February 27, 2006

Region 5 files a combined Administrative Complaint and Consent Agreement with Arrow Chemical Products, Inc.   On July 18, 2005, Region 5 issued a Notice of Intent to file a civil administrative complaint against Arrow Chemical Products, Inc., in Detroit, Michigan. On February 22, 2006, Region 5 simultaneously filed an administrative complaint and Consent Agreement and Final Order (CAFO) resolving violations of Section 12(a)(1)(C) of FIFRA for Arrow Chemical’s sale and distribution of three lots of Mint Quaternary Disinfectant Cleaner, with compositions greater than the composition in the product’s statement of formula. This settlement will promote greater awareness of quality control procedures and minimize distribution of overformulated pesticide products.Arrow Chemical will pay a penalty of $7,920.(Contact Joanna Glowacki, Associate Regional Counsel, primary contact 312-353-3757, or Terence Bonace, Life Scientist, additional contact 312-886-3387.)