 | ||
|
National News |
 |
 | ||
|
|
|
|
| |||||||||
|
|
|
EPA Press Advisory: (1) Connecticut Company to Pay $10 Million for Clean Water Act Violations; (2) Colorado Electroplating Company and Manager Indicted in Sewer Dumping CasePress Advisory - EPA’s latest developments Weekly Enforcement Wrap-Up Contact: Christopher Lagan 202-565-7338 / lagan.christopher@epa.gov (1) Connecticut Company to Pay $10 Million for Clean Water Act Violations Tyco Printed Circuit Group (TPCG) of Stafford, Conn., a subsidiary of Tyco International, was sentenced on 12 counts of violating the Clean Water Act. The plea agreement calls for TPCG to pay a total of $10 million in fines. Of that amount, $6 million will be paid as a federal criminal fine; $2.7 million will go to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) natural resources fund; the Towns of Stafford and Manchester will receive $500,000 each to fund improvements in their sewer and water treatment systems; and $300,000 will pay for recycling deionized and other wastewater at the company’s Stafford and Staffordville facilities. Between 1999 and June 2001, TPCG managers at the company’s Stafford, Staffordville and Manchester facilities engaged in a variety of practices that caused the facilities to discharge wastewater with higher than permitted levels of pollutants into municipal sewage treatment systems. The illegal practices included, but were not limited to, diluting potentially non-compliant wastewater samples, discarding of samples with excessive levels of toxic metals, and omitting samples that were not in compliance for pH. Sentencing took place on Aug. 17 in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut in Hartford. The case was investigated by the Boston Office of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the Connecticut DEP with the assistance of EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center. It was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Hartford. (2) Colorado Electroplating Company and Manager Indicted in Sewer Dumping Case Luxury Wheels Inc. of Grand Junction, Colo., and Albert David Hajduk, Luxury Wheels’ operations manager, have been indicted on charges of conspiracy and violating the Clean Water Act (CWA). According to the indictment, Luxury Wheels was an electroplating business that used various chemicals for its processes including acids and caustics, as well as chemical solutions containing metals. The indictment alleges that from May 1999 until September 2003, the defendants entered into a conspiracy and violated the CWA by attempting to treat wastewater at times when their treatment system was overburdened, by diluting wastes before treating them in violation of their discharge permit and by hiring a company to “hydrojet” the company’s sewage service line to remove chemical sludge blockages in order to conceal evidence of illegal discharges. Illegally discharging chemicals, caustics and acids into sewers can create a danger to sewage treatment plant workers and can also prevent the proper treatment of sewage when it reaches the plant. Indictments were handed up on Aug. 11 in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado in Denver. The case was investigated by the Denver Office of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division with the assistance of EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver. R156 ### Release date:08/25/2004 Receive our News Releases Automatically by Email
|
|
|
|
 | ||
|
EPA Home | Privacy and Security Notice | Contact Us
URL: Last Revised: 08/25/2004 01:44:23 PM
|