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CONNECTICUT METAL FINISHER FINED IN FEDERAL COURT ON ENVIRONMENTAL CHARGES

Release Date: 05/02/1997
Contact Information: Alice Kaufman, EPA Press Office, (617) 918-1064

Hartford - James J. Scalise, Esq. of New Britain, Connecticut, owner and operator of FREY Manufacturing Company, Inc. a metal finishing company, was sentenced to six months of home confinement, three years of probation, and a $15,000 fine. The United States District Court in Hartford, Connecticut also noted that the judgement in this case would be forwarded to federal and state bar committees for whatever action they deem appropriate.

Scalise had pleaded guilty to three counts of a five count indictment charging Scalise and FREY with:

• discharging wastewater containing excessive amounts of cyanide and acid into New Britain's sewer system between November 1993 and April 1995;
• operating without a permit since at least November 1991;
• failing to report analyses of FREY's discharges to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, and falsely representing to the DEP that there had been no monitoring of FREY's discharges since it relocated to its current address at 10 Harvard Street in 1987.

"The defendant Scalise is an attorney who consistently and flagrantly defied the efforts of regulatory agencies to bring his company into compliance with environmental laws. This prosecution reflects the effort of this office to ensure that significant environmental scofflaws are brought to justice," said U.S. Attorney Christopher F. Droney.

"A company manager, who's also a lawyer, is now a convicted felon because he knowingly thumbed his nose at environmental laws," said John P. DeVillars, EPA's New England administrator.

The case was referred to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by the Connecticut DEP. It was investigated by agents of EPA's Criminal Investigation Division and representatives of the Office of the Chief State's Attorney, who are working together in a combined effort to investigate environmental crimes throughout the state.