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THIRD BFI MANAGER SENTENCED FOR CLEAN WATER ACT VIOLATIONS AT D.C. MEDICAL WASTE FACILITY

Release Date: 5/26/2000
Contact Information: Donna M. Heron (215) 814-5113

Donna M. Heron, 215-814-5113

WASHINGTON, DC – On May 23, 2000, Gregory R. Smith, a former plant manager of a Washington, D.C., medical waste treatment facility was sentenced to one year probation after pleading guilty to two felony violations of the Clean Water Act.

Smith entered his guilty plea to these charges two years ago and in fashioning his sentence, the court took into consideration Smith’s cooperation with the government’s investigation.

Smith is the third and final BFI manager to be sentenced for illegal discharges of industrial wastewater in 1995 and 1996 from the now-closed facility operated by BFI-Maryland, a subsidiary of Houston-based Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI). On April 3, 2000, former BFI district manager Robert E. Brown was sentenced to two years probation and a $5,000 fine and on April 14, 2000, former BFI regional manager Kevin Scolis was sentenced to two years probation and a $2,500 fine. Both Scolis and Brown pleaded guilty to misdemeanor Clean Water Act violations. In September 1998, BFI-Maryland was fined $1.5 million for felony violations.

In addition to the criminal fine, BFI-Maryland was sentenced in September 1998 to two years of probation and community service, in the form of a $100,000 payment to the Conservation Fund to advance land and water conservation activities at the community level. The parent company, BFI, has also committed to performing an environmental audit, and develop and maintain an environmental compliance program at each of its medical waste autoclave facilities in the U.S.






BFI-Maryland Employee Sentenced
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The BFI-Maryland facility treated medical waste using a steam processing system known as an "autoclave." In applying for a Clean Water Act discharge permit in 1991, the company stated to the District of Columbia that the wastewater from this process would be pretreated prior to discharge into the sewer system. However, the company began accumulating rainwater, snowmelt, and other liquids in a trailer pit area used to load treated medical waste for shipment to a landfill. According to the government, this trailer pit also accumulated medical waste and untreated wastewater from the autoclave system. Plant employees pumped wastewater from the trailer pit onto the facility's parking lot and into a drain leading to the D.C. sewer system.

The case was investigated by the EPA Criminal Investigations Division and the FBI. The case was jointly prosecuted by the Department of Justice's Environmental Crimes Section and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Legal assistance was provided by EPA Region III's Office of Regional Counsel.



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