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OHIO COMPANIES AND PRESIDENT SENTENCED ON WATER CHARGES
Release Date: 06/09/2000
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 2000
OHIO COMPANIES AND PRESIDENT SENTENCED ON WATER CHARGES
Burton Metal Finishing and Franklin Plating and Polishing, and Dallas L. Burton, President of both companies, were sentenced on May 25, for violating the Clean Water Act (CWA). Burton previously pleaded guilty to a CWA count of making illegal discharges into the Columbus sewer system. Burton was sentenced to one year probation, including eight months of home confinement and was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and $10,000 restitution to the Bedford Landfill Trust. Each company previously pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with a wastewater monitoring device, and to one count of illegally discharging heavy metals into the Columbus public sewer system. Burton Metal Finishing was fined $40,000, ordered to pay $75,000 in restitution to the local Nail-a-Dumper Program, serve three years probation and perform 400 hours of community service. Franklin Plating and Polishing was fined $40,000, ordered to pay $75,000 to the Ohio EPA clean-up fund and placed on three years probation. In a related proceeding, both companies were ordered by a Franklin County Court judge to pay a $63,100 fine to the city of Columbus, $12,000 in costs and $75,000 to the city’s Department of Public Utilities for a mercury abatement program. Discharging heavy metals into sewers can damage sewage treatment plants and can interfere with the treatment of sewage. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI, the State of Ohio Attorney General’s Office and the Ohio State Environmental Protection Agency. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Columbus.
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