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PA FLORIDA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO DUMPING PLATING WASTE INTO SEWER
Release Date: 02/06/98
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, FEB. 6, 1998
FLORIDA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO DUMPING PLATING WASTE INTO SEWER
On Jan. 27, William Onuska, Jr., President and owner of Hard Chrome Enterprises Inc., a metal plating facility located in Lake Park, Fla., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami to discharging hazardous waste in violation of the Clean Water Act. Onuska admitted that in November 1996, he knowingly violated his company’s operating permit by discharging plating wastes containing selium and chromium into a sewer system that led to a treatment facility operated by the Seacoast Utility Authority in Lake Park. Ingestion of significant amounts of chromium and selium can produce a variety of illnesses in people and wildlife and high concentrations of both chemicals can damage sewage treatment facilities and prevent them from purifying waste water. When sentenced, Onuska faces a maximum of up to three years imprisonment, up to $250,000 in fines or both. He has also agreed to pay $28,269.48 to reimburse the Florida Marine Patrol and the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Environmental Investigations Unit for the costs of investigating his crime. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the Florida Marine Patrol, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Law Enforcement Division and the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office.
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