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PA WASHINGTON STATE MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO FEDERAL AND STATE CHARGES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES

Release Date: 12/19/97
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1997

WASHINGTON STATE MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO FEDERAL AND STATE CHARGES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES

Howard Norman Angell, of Bainbridge Island, Wash., plead guilty to federal charges filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle and to state charges in Kings County Washington in relation to the operation of Western Reclamation, an asbestos abatement and underground storage tank removal business. On Dec. 10, Angell plead guilty in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle to a Clean Water Act felony for discharging approximately 13,000 gallons of gasoline and gasoline-contaminated water from three underground storage tanks into Henderson Bay. He also plead guilty to a Clean Air Act felony for illegally removing asbestos and failing to notify authorities of the removal of approximately 14,000 square feet of asbestos from a building in Seattle, Wash. On Dec. 8, Angell plead guilty in King County District Court to ten State of Washington violations. The violations arose when the defendant, who was not registered under state law, contracted to remove underground oil storage tanks at private residences. When sentenced, Angell faces a maximum of up to eight years imprisonment and fines of up to $500,000 on the federal charges, and a maximum of up to 30 months imprisonment and $10,000 in fines on the Washington State charges. This was a joint federal and state investigation and prosecution involving EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, the Seattle Fire Marshal and the Puget Sound Air Pollution Control Agency.



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