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PA MEMPHIS DRUM RECYCLER SENT. FOR DUMPING HAZARDOUS WASTE

Release Date: 3/28/97
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PA MEMPHIS DRUM RECYCLER SENT. FOR DUMPING HAZARDOUS WASTE

FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 1997

MEMPHIS DRUM RECYCLER SENTENCED FOR DUMPING HAZARDOUS WASTE

Johnnie James Williams of South Memphis, Tenn., was sentenced on March 21, to 41 months imprisonment and two years of supervised release by the U.S. District Court in Memphis, Tenn., for his jury conviction on two felony counts of violating the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) by illegally storing and disposing of hazardous waste in a South Memphis neighborhood which has environmental justice issues. This is the longest prison sentence handed down in an environmental case in Tennessee. Williams owned and operated W&R Drum, a drum recycling facility, from 1983 until July 1994 when EPA closed the site and began a Superfund clean up that cost taxpayers $1.5 million. Levels of heavy metals, acids, organic materials and solvents were as much as 2,000 times the regulatory limits. The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI with assistance from EPA's National Enforcement Investigations Center.

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