All News Releases By Date

PA CHEMICAL DISCHARGE INTO CINCINNATI SEWER

Release Date: 02/04/97
Contact Information:

PA CHEMICAL DISCHARGE INTO CINCINNATI SEWER

FOR RELEASE: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1997

CHEMICAL DISCHARGE INTO SEWER LEADS TO GUILTY PLEAS

On Jan. 28, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in Cincinnati, two corporations, the
Ruetgers-Nease Corp. and the Southside River Rail Corp. and two individuals Noah Cope, the manager of the
Ruetgers-Nease plant in Hamilton County and Paul T. Owens, an employee of Southside in Cincinnati, pleaded guilty to
charges alleging that they violated the federal Clean Water Act by discharging wastewater containing various chemicals
including toluene, benzene and xylene into the Cincinnati municipal sewers. The offense occurred on Oct. 4, 1995, when
employees at Southside emptied the contents of two bulk liquid tanks at the Southside facility tank truck wash area in
Cincinnati. The liquid in the tanks contained co-mingled hazardous waste solvents and non-hazardous wastewater from the
Ruetgers-Nease facility. Shortly after Southside employees began discharging the liquid into the sewer, employees at the
nearby Muddy Creek Wastewater Treatment plant detected a suspicious odor, tested the influent and determined that it
contained high levels of chemical contamination. The influent was then diverted directly into the Ohio River to prevent the
possibility of damage to the treatment plant. When sentenced Owens and Cope will each face a maximum of up to a year in jail
and/or a maximum fine of up to $25,000. Southside River Rail Corporation faces a maximum fine of up to $50,000, and
Reutgers-Nease faces a maximum fine of up to $25,000. The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division,
the FBI, the Ohio EPA, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Cincinnati Fire Department with the assistance of
EPA's National Enforcement Investigations Center.