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FORMER ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICER AT GEORGIA CHEMICAL PLANT PLEADS GUILTY IN CHEMICAL RELEASE CASE

Release Date: 01/08/99
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 1999

FORMER ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICER AT GEORGIA CHEMICAL PLANT PLEADS
GUILTY IN CHEMICAL RELEASE CASE

Douglas Brent Hanson, former Environmental Officer at the L.C.P. Chemicals and Plastics Inc. (LCP), manufacturing facility in Brunswick, Ga., pleaded guilty on December 22, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia in Savannah, Ga. to charges that he violated the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act and the Endangered Species Act. LCP, which is owned by the Hanlin Group Inc., was engaged in chemical production. On Sept. 22, 1993 Hanson admitted that he failed to immediately inform the National Response Center of the release of over 1,000 pounds of sodium hypochlorite bleach that emptied into a marsh adjacent to the facility and into Purvis Creek, as required by law. Failure to report releases such as this one can endanger the health and lives of people and the environment. Hanson also admitted to violating the Endangered Species Act. When sentenced Hanson faces a maximum sentence of up to four years in prison and/or up to $200,000 in fines. Additional defendants face trial in January. The case is being investigated by EPA Criminal Investigation Division, EPA National Enforcement Investigations Center, and the Georgia Environmental Protection Department, and was prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.
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