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TAMPA MAN SENTENCED FOR HAZARDOUS WASTE VIOLATION

Release Date: 04/16/99
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 1999

TAMPA MAN SENTENCED FOR HAZARDOUS WASTE VIOLATION

William M. Shaw, of Tampa, Fla., was sentenced on April 9 and was ordered to pay
$594, 972.52 in restitution by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa for violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The defendant was also placed on five years probation and was ordered to perform 500 hours of community service. Shaw was owner and president of the now defunct Danmank companies which recycled used oil at a facility in Tampa. The defendant knowingly accepted loads of used oil and sludge contaminated with hazardous wastes from businesses throughout central Florida, even though he did not have a permit to treat, store, transport or dispose of waste containing hazardous substances. The waste included Benzene which is a known cause of cancer in humans. In August 1993, Shaw abandoned the Danmark facility leaving behind 80,000 gallons of hazardous liquid waste and 150 tons of hazardous solid waste, which were contaminated with hazardous substances. Cleanup of the site cost the federal government and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection over $500,000. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department and was prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.

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