Image Credit: Canva
Allwaste Onsite, doing business as Onsite Environmental, entered two guilty pleas in relation to federal Clean Water Act violations. As part of the plea, Onsite Environmental has agreed to pay a fine of $512,000 and serve a three-year term of probation that requires Onsite Environmental to properly treat industrial wastes according to a detailed facility operating plan.
According to court documents, Onsite Environmental operated a facility in Nashville, Tennessee, that treated liquid non-hazardous industrial wastes before discharging them into the sewer. Onsite Environmental had obtained a pretreatment permit from the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County (Metro) under an approved Clean Water Act pretreatment program. The permit required Onsite Environmental to remove pollutants in the industrial wastes prior to discharging them into the sewer.
However, from Dec. 5-22, 2022, and again from Jan. 4-17, 2023, Onsite Environmental employees knowingly bypassed treatment processes and discharged untreated or partially untreated industrial wastes into the Metro sewer system in direct violation of the pretreatment permit.
U.S. District Court Judge Aleta A. Trauger for the Middle District of Tennessee accepted the guilty pleas. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 15.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) and Acting U.S. Attorney Robert E. McGuire for the Middle District of Tennessee made the announcement.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Criminal Investigation Division and EPA Office of Inspector General investigated the case.
Senior Trial Attorney Matthew T. Morris of ENRD’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie N. Toussaint for the Middle District of Tennessee are prosecuting the case.
###
One Response
Criminals.