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CALIFORNIA COMPANY’S CLEAN AIR ACT PLEA INCLUDES $1 MILLION FINE
Release Date: 06/01/2000
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2000
CALIFORNIA COMPANY’S CLEAN AIR ACT
PLEA INCLUDES $1 MILLION FINE
Allied Refrigeration Inc., of Long Beach, Calif., pleaded guilty on May 24 to violating the Clean Air Act and to illegally smuggling ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the United States. As part of the plea, Allied has agreed to pay a $1 million fine, $100,000 of which will be directed to the Santa Monica National Recreational Area for use on environmental protection and preservation projects. Allied participated in a scheme to smuggle 18,000 30-pound cylinders of CFCs into the United States between 1993 and 1995. The $1 million fine represents the profits Allied made from reselling the smuggled CFCs. The principal smugglers in this scheme, Cowas Gustad Patel of San Dimas, Calif., and Bruce Burrell of Miami, Fla., have already been convicted and sentenced. The importation of CFCs into the United States is strictly regulated because the release of these ozone-depleting substances into the atmosphere can increase human exposure to ultraviolet radiation, which is a cause of skin cancer and cataracts. This case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Customs Service, and was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California in Los Angeles.
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