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Criminal Enforcement Accomplishments, Fiscal Year 2004
| Enforcements Accomplishments 2004 Quick Finder | |||
Since 1982, EPA’s law enforcement authority has expanded as the need for combatting environmental crime grew. EPA and its federal, state and local law enforcement partners investigate and prosecute those responsible for the most egregious, intentional violations of federal environmental laws. EPA investigates allegations of criminal wrongdoing under various environmental statutes including data fraud cases, illegal disposal of hazardous waste; illegal discharge of pollutants to U.S. waters; illegal importation of certain chemicals; tampering with a drinking water supply; mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering relating to environmental crimes.
Oakland, CA glass company fined for Clean Air Act violations (Use photo here of Owens Brockway case of smokestacks)
The Owens-Brockway Glass Container Inc. was sentenced in Federal Court for failing to properly notify state and federal regulators when it demolished five asbestos-coated furnace exhaust pipes at its glass manufacturing plant in a residential/commercial neighborhood of Oakland, Calif. The company was fined $48,000, plus an additional $50,000 to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District as restitution for Clean Air Act violations. In 2003, Owens Brockway paid EPA $200,000 for numerous air quality violations at its facility in the mid-1990s.
Los Angeles PVC firm pays $4.3 million fine for multiple environmental violations
Keysor-Century Corp., the only manufacturer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin in the western United States, agreed to plead guilty to federal felony charges and pay more than $4 million in penalties and restitution for pollution from its Saugus manufacturing facility, as well as lying about its employees’ over-exposure to toxics. Tipped off by a whistle blower at the facility, EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division discovered that the plastics company knowingly released toxic wastewater into southern California’s Santa Clara River, and emitted cancer-causing air pollutants at high levels, while falsifying emission reports to state and federal agencies. The company also illegally stored and handled hazardous waste. Keysor-Century settled civil violations with multiple state and federal agencies, including EPA and the U.S. and California Departments of Justice. EPA also required that the company permanently stop making PVC.
Norwegian ship operator pleads guilty to illegal oil discharges, falsifying records
Hoegh Fleet Services, a Norwegian operator
of an ocean going fleet of cargo vessels, pled
guilty in Federal Court to seven felony counts
including obstruction of justice, and making
false statements to federal investigators. Second
engineer Vincent Genovana who served on the MV
Hoegh Minerva, a cargo vessel operated by Hoegh
Fleet Services, admitted that he illegally ordered
a pipe fitter to create a bypass pipe used to
discharge oil on the high seas. Genovana made
false entries in the Oil Record Book concealing
the illegal discharge activity. Genovana was
sentenced to 30 days in prison for his role in
the offense. Information on the illegal activity
was provided to the U.S. Coast Guard by a crew
member during an annual inspection in California.
Hoegh Fleet Services was fined $3.5 million,
placed on probation for four years, and ordered
to carry out an environmental compliance plan.
The company will also spend $1.6 million on environmental
projects.
Nevada man sentenced for illegally removing asbestos, violating Clean Air Act
Dean Roberts, owner and operator of Axis Environmental of Reno, Nev., was sentenced to six months in prison and three years of supervised release for knowingly violating the Clean Air Act by illegally removing asbestos-containing material from a commercial building. In 2002, Roberts also failed to notify state regulators about unprotected removing asbestos under his supervision.
Nevada man sentenced for illegally processing highly toxic mercury
Russell Calkins was sentenced to six months of home confinement with electronic monitoring, 250 hours of community service, five years of probation, and a mandatory assessment of $100 for illegal storage of hazardous waste. Calkins, the owner of Aetron Corporation, a computer repair business located in Reno, Nev., used the facility to process mercury-laden waste from the Paradise Peak Mine near Reno for its precious metal content. The mercury processing and waste storage contaminated workers and the surrounding environment, including the Truckee River.
Contractors plead guilty to asbestos removal violations
John Vincent Finnerty, and Patrick Joseph Deegan, the president, and operations manager of Remtech Restoration Corp. in Fullerton, Calif., pled guilty to two counts violating asbestos regulations during demolition or renovation projects. The two Remtech employees abandoned hundreds of bags of asbestos material at Remtech after the company went out of business. The men face penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment, a three-year period of supervised release and a $500,000 fine.
Dry cleaning waste operators plead guilty, sentenced for hazardous waste violations
Homayoun Pourat has been sentenced to 37 months in prison and his partner, Behzad Kahoolyzadeh, is facing sentencing for illegal storage, disposal and transfer of hazardous waste at the AAD Disposal facility in Vernon, Calif. Pourat will also pay $1,000,000 in restitution. The men erroneously claimed they were treating and properly disposing of dry-cleaning hazardous waste, tetrachloroethylene, known as “perc.” They illegally stored perc waste at various locations and disposed of improperly treated waste in municipal waste landfills.