New Jersey Iron Pipe Manufacturer Indicted on Environmental and Worker Safety Charges
Release Date: 12/23/2003
Contact Information:
Suzanne Ackerman 202-564-7819 / ackerman.suzanne@epa.gov
(12/23/03) On Dec. 11, Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co., of Phillipsburg, N.J., and five of its managers John Prisque, plant manager; Jeffrey Maury, maintenance supervisor; Daniel Yadzinski, engineering and environmental manager; Craig Davidson, finishing superintendent; and Scott Faubert, former human resource manager were indicted for alleged illegal discharges into water and air, as well as worker safety law violations. Atlantic States, a subsidiary of McWane Inc., of Birmingham, Ala., is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of ductile iron pipe. All defendants are charged by the U.S. EPA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration with conspiracy to violate federal laws and regulations for environmental protection and workplace safety, as well as obstruction of proceedings. In addition to the conspiracy charge, some of the defendants face other charges including: illegal discharges of petroleum-contaminated wastewater into the Delaware River, unlawful discharges into the atmosphere from a multi-story furnace and purposefully concealing violations of laws governing worker safety. Environmental air and water violations can harm fish, humans and wildlife. The indictment claims that the alleged worker safety violations led to employee injuries and the death of one employee. The case was investigated by the New York Area Office of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division; the Avenel, N.J., Office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Justice; and the Phillipsburg Police Department. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey and the Environmental Crimes Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty in a court of law.
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