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FLORIDA WOMAN ARRESTED ON HAZARDOUS WASTE CHARGES

Release Date: 05/05/2000
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2000

FLORIDA WOMAN ARRESTED ON HAZARDOUS WASTE CHARGES

On April 20 Johan March Heward of Rotunda West, Fla., was arrested in White Lake Township, Mich., following an April 19 indictment in U.S. District Court in Detroit, Mich., which charged Heward with four counts of violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The defendant inherited the assets of the Utility Enameling Corp., a Detroit parts cleaning and coating company that ceased operation in 1990. The assets included property in Detroit where approximately 100, 55-gallon drums of waste solvents, acids and paints were stored. The charges allege that between April and November 1995, Heward illegally stored the drums and had them transported to New York, where they were abandoned in the parking lot of a shopping center. If convicted on all counts, the defendant faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine on each count. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI, and is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit, Mich.

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