NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/misc/legal/21685

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-23 | 8.8 KB

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Newsgroups: misc.legal,talk.environment,alt.activism,sci.engr.chem
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From: [e-mail] (Nigel Allen)
Subject: Sentences Announced in Weaver Electric PCB Case
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Organization: Echo Beach, Toronto
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1992 10:16:35 GMT
Lines: 141

Here is a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

 Sentences Announced in Weaver Electric PCB Disposal Case
 To: National Desk
 Contact: U.S. Department of Justice, Public Affairs, 202-514-2007;
          or the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District
          of Colorado, 303-844-2081

   DENVER, Dec. 22   -- United States Attorney Michael J. Norton
jointly with Ronald F. Ederer, United States Attorney for the
Western District of Texas; Vicki A. O'Meara, acting assistant
attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division
of the United States Department of Justice; James L. Prange, special
agent in charge, Office of Criminal Investigations, United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and Joseph D. Martinolich Jr.,
special agent in charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
announced today that United States District Court Judge Zita L.
Weinshienk sentenced Weaver Electric Co. Inc. to pay $500,000 in
fines and environmental expenditures at its facilities and Clayton
Regier and Bud Rupe to terms of imprisonment in connection with their
conviction for federal environmental and related criminal charges
filed in September 1992 in Denver, Colorado, and El Paso.  The
charges resulted from a scheme to illegally dispose of
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and capacitors containing PCBs owned
by Weaver Electric and stored at its headquartered in Denver.
   The environmental charges stemmed "from the illegal disposal of
drums and capacitors containing PCBs in connection with the actions
or the defendants in fulfilling a 1988 agreement with Lawrence J.
("Larry") Pizer, then the president of Weaver Electric.  In late 1988
and early 1989, drums and capacitors were transported to a ranch in
Elizabeth, Colo., leased by the Slussers, where the capacitors and
some drums which had been emptied were buried.  The remaining drums
containing PCBs were illegally stored at the ranch and ultimately
transported to El Paso, Texas, where they were abandoned after
attempts to transport and dispose of them in Mexico were
unsuccessful.
   Weaver Electric, which buys, refurbishes and sells used electrical
equipment, was sentenced to a fine of $200,000 and is being required,
as a term of probation, to spend an additional $300,000 on
EA-approved environmental compliance activities at its two Denver
sites for its conviction of seven charges, including violations for
the illegal disposal, storage, exportation and labeling of drums and
capacitors containing PCBs.  Weaver Electric required environmental
expenditures are designed to meet all TSCA requirements at its
facilities, in order of priority established by EPA, and includes the
proper disposal of its remaining PCBs.  Under the sentence, Weaver
Electric remains responsible for all clean-up costs at Elizabeth, El
Paso and other sites caused by its illegal activities, in addition to
its criminal fine.
  Weaver Electric was convicted of charges that it lied to the EPA
by submitting false invoices indicating that it had properly disposed
of PCBs at approved disposal facilities.  Instead, the company was
shipping PCBs off-site for improper disposal.  Weaver Electric,
previously barred from entering into contracts with the federal
government because of related allegations that it was mishandling
PCBs, was also convicted of submitting a false bid to the Department
of Defense to procure surplus electrical equipment by falsely
representing itself as another corporation eligible to make such
bids.
   Bud Rupe, who assisted in the formation of the illegal scheme and
transported the PCBs to the Elizabeth site, was sentenced to five
months imprisonment and five months home detention and was ordered to
pay $5,000 in restitution for his conviction on a TSCA charge of
illegally disposing of the capacitors.  The restitution payment
required under his sentence, as is true of such payments by the other
defendants, is payable to the United States' "Superfund" account, and
is intended to help to reimburse the fund for expenditures made by
EPA in remediating the sites where Weaver Electric's PCBs were
released.
   Clayton Regier, the plant manager for Weaver Electric's main
facility, was also sentenced to five months imprisonment and five
months home detention and was ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution
for his conviction on two TSCA charges.  One charge relates to his
role in facilitating the illegal disposal of other Weaver Electric
drums containing PCBs, which were transported in mid-1988 to a site
in Byers, Colo., where some of the PCBs were illegally disposed of
and others remained illegally stored.  The other charge relates to
the removal of required labels from drums and capacitors containing
PCBs going to Elizabeth, Byers and elsewhere, a further step in the
process of illegal disposal.
   Martha Slusser was sentenced on Nov. 30, 1992, to 90 days of
imprisonment and a restitution payment in the amount of $5,000 for
her conviction on two charges of illegally disposing of PCBs, one
charge relating to illegally disposing of the capacitors at the
Elizabeth site and the other charge relating to the drums abandoned
in El Paso.
   Michael Slusser, who was convicted of one charge under the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act
(CERCLA, and also known as "Superfund") for failing to notify federal
officials of the release of a "hazardous substance" at the Elizabeth
ranch, will be sentenced on Jan. 11, 1993.  He also pleaded guilty to
a charge of illegally disposing of the capacitors.
   The evidence revealed that all of these illegal activities, but
for the shipment of PCBs to El Paso, were carried out by, or under,
the specific direction of Larry Pizer, who died in February 1992.
   EPA has completed clean-up activities at the Elizabeth ranch, at a
cost of $717,000 and in El Paso, where PCBs leaked onto the ground
from the abandoned drums, at a cost of $276,000.  The Byers site was
stabilized when a federal search warrant was executed there in
February 1992, and is in the process of being remediated.
   United States Attorney Norton stated, "A fine of this magnitude,
particularly against a relatively small business, again indicates
that deliberate environmental misconduct will not be tolerated.
Further, we will aggressively pursue convictions against individuals
whenever we find sufficient evidence of knowing wrongdoing."
   Acting Assistant Attorney General O'Meara stated, "It should not
be overlooked that under the federal environmental laws, no business
can fire or otherwise discriminate against an employee for providing
information of wrongdoing to the government.  Special provisions in
these laws protect the worker by providing reinstatement, backpay and
various damages.  By the same token, participating in illegal
environmental activity can never be excused by fear of the
job-related consequences of refusing to participate and, as is
evident from the prison sentence imposed upon Clayton Regier, it was
not in this case."
   James L. Prange, special agent in charge, Office of Criminal
Investigations, EPA, stated, "This case originally came to EPA's
attention as a result of a tip from a concerned individual who became
aware of certain aspects of the wrongdoing.  Under CERCLA, EPA is
potentially authorized to pay up to $10,000 to individuals, such as
this, who provide information leading to the arrest and conviction of
a person for a criminal violation of CERCLA."
   Joseph D. Martinolich Jr., special agent in charge, FBI, Denver,
said, "The FBI is committed to the aggressive investigation and
prosecution of environmental crimes and will continue to work in
close concert with the Criminal Enforcement Division of EPA, the
United States Attorney's Office, and the Environmental Crimes Section
of the Department of Justice in the prosecution of those who would
commit these crimes."
   United States Attorney Norton commended Peter Murtha, a trial
attorney with the Washington-based Environmental Crimes Section, and
Colorado Assistant United States Attorney John M. Haried who jointly
led the prosecution of the case.  Norton also commended the
investigative team of case agents from the Denver office of the
Environmental Protection Agency, the Denver office of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and the El Paso office of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation.  This case was the product of a joint investigation
by the EPA's Office of Criminal Investigations in Denver and the
FBI's Denver and El Paso offices.
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