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Texas Plating Company Sentenced for Illegal Disposal of Cyanide Solution

Release Date: 06/27/2003
Contact Information:


John Millet 202-564-7842 / millet.john@epa.gov


(06/27/03) On June 18, in U.S. District Court in Texarkana, RTF Industries, Inc., located outside of Marshall, Texas, was sentenced to pay a $100,000 fine for violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The defendant operated an electroplating facility and illegally dumped hazardous wastes including spent cyanide plating bath solutions and wastewater treatment sludge under a trailer located at a pyrotechnic facility which RTF Industries owned and operated next door to its plating facility. Cyanide wastes are highly toxic and can cause serious neurological injury and even death to individuals who come into contact with them. The case was investigated by the EPA Criminal Investigation Division, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. It was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Texarkana.