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PENNSYLVANIA COMPANY AND MANAGER CHARGED

Release Date: 02/22/2001
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2001
PENNSYLVANIA COMPANY AND MANAGER CHARGED


Kam Industries, Inc., of Warrington, Pa., and its former general manager, Robert Perkins of Horsham, Pa., were both charged on Feb.15 with one count of making false statements to regulatory authorities and with two counts of violating the pretreatment standards of the Clean Water Act (CWA). These charges were connected with Kam’s alleged unlawful discharge of pollutants into the Warminster Township Municipal Authority (WTMA) sewer system from Oct.1995 to May 1999. Kam is a machine shop operation which manufactured and processed machine parts made primarily of steel and aluminum. Kam was notified in 1995 by the WTMA that since it was an industrial waste user of the sewer system, it was required under the CWA to obtain an Industrial User Permit. Kam did not apply for the required permit until Oct. 1998. It is alleged by the federal government that after being issued a permit, the company and Perkins, between Dec.1998 and May 1999, violated the permit’s conditions by discharging various pollutants in excess of the local limits. It is further alleged that the two defendants made false statements to the WTMA, by claiming on its permit application that no chemical compounds containing metals or inorganics would be discharged into the WTMA Treatment Works. If convicted on all three counts, Kam faces a maximum $1,500,000 fine, and Robert Perkins faces a possible maximum sentence of 11 years imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $750,000. This case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, with assistance from the Warminster Township Municipal Authority, and it is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

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