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THREE OFFICIALS OF LCP CHEMICALS CONVICTED

Release Date: 01/22/99
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 1999

THREE OFFICIALS OF LCP CHEMICALS CONVICTED

Three former officers and managers of LCP Chemicals of Brunswick, Ga., were convicted of violating various environmental protection laws on Jan. 15 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia in Brunswick. LCP was a subsidiary of Hanlin Group Inc., a Delaware corporation. Christian A. Hansen of Highlands, N.J., former chairman of the board of Hanlin Group was convicted on 41 counts; Randall W. Hansen of Westfield, N.J., former treasurer of the Hanlin Group was convicted on 34 counts; and Alfred R. Taylor of Brunswick, Ga., former plant manager at the LCP facility in Brunswick was convicted on 20 counts. All defendants were convicted on one count of conspiring to violate the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. In addition, each defendant was convicted on one RCRA count of knowingly endangering employees at the Brunswick plant. The defendants were also individually convicted on a variety of other environmental offenses. LCP manufactured chlor-alkalai bleach, caustic soda, hydrogen gas and hydrochloric acid at its Brunswick facility. In the process, the defendants caused mercury and chlorine to be released into Purvis Creek. Contact with sufficient quantities of mercury can lead to a variety of neurological and other disorders. Chlorine is a highly caustic material which can cause chemical burns and can be harmful to aquatic life. The case was investigated by the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with the assistance of the EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center, and was prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.

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