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VIRGINIA COMPANY, FORMER OFFICIAL SENTENCED
Release Date: 06/28/2001
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 2001
On June 20, Rehrig International Inc. pleaded guilty to negligently violating the Clean Water Act (CWA) and was ordered to pay a $200,000 fine and provide $300,000 for pollution prevention and control activities. The company’s production process includes metal plating and coating shopping cart chassis with nickel and chromium. Rehrig had operated in Richmond, Va., and had a CWA permit from the city to discharge wastewater to the sewer system after pretreating it to ensure pollutant levels were below permit limits. Rehrig was charged with discharging chromium into city sewers in amounts approximately thirty times the permit limits, and nickel in amounts six times the permit limits. Discharging higher than permitted levels of chromium and nickel into sewers can damage sewage treatment equipment and prevent the proper treatment of sewage. In a related case, J. Gregory Dant, former pollution control operator at Rehrig, was sentenced to six months home confinement and five years probation for violating the CWA by tampering with pollution monitoring equipment. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the Defense Criminal Investigation Service. It was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Richmond.
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