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ILLEGAL DRY CLEANING WASTE DISPOSAL SCHEME UNCOVERED
Release Date: 03/16/2001
Contact Information:
FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2001
ILLEGAL DRY CLEANING WASTE DISPOSAL SCHEME UNCOVERED
Luke C. Hester 202-564-7818 / hester.luke@epa.gov
Six individuals and two companies were indicted on March 2 in connection with an alleged interstate illegal dry cleaning waste disposal scheme. Homayoun Pourat of Santa Monica, Calif., Hormoz Pourat of Encino, Calif., Behzad Kahoolyzadeh of West Los Angeles, Calif., Robert Hearsch of Wheatridge, Colo., Patricia Hajduch of Griffith, Ind., and Aaron Rios of Denver, Colo., plus two California companies, AAD Distribution and Dry Cleaning Service, Inc. and AAD Disposal, Inc. were indicted on various state charges in an alleged scheme that included racketeering, forgery, attempting to influence a public servant, and violations of Colorado hazardous waste laws. The charges allege that the defendants engaged in a systematic criminal endeavor that charged hundreds of dry cleaners in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Kansas, Missouri and Texas for legal disposal of a dry cleaning fluid commonly known as “PERC” and then illegally transported, stored and disposed of the waste fluid. PERC, also known as tetrachloroethylene and perchloroethylene, is a central nervous system depressant that is known to cause liver and kidney damage and has been shown to be carcinogenic in animal studies. The case was investigated by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and Criminal Investigation Division, EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center, and the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Department of Toxic Substances Control/Criminal Investigation Bureau. An indictment is merely an accusation and all defendants are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty in a court of law.
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