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Texas Environmental Company Employees Indicted on Hazardous Waste Charges
Release Date: 01/22/2003
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(01/22/03) Dwan Allen Trim and Lynn Kelly Fultz, former supervisors at Intracoastal Environmental Services (IES) in Port Arthur, Texas, were indicted on Jan. 8 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Beaumont on charges that they violated the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The indictment states IES contracted with a company, Coastal Marine, to remove, transport and dispose of hazardous wastes located inside a Coastal Marine barge. The defendants allegedly supervised the removal of the wastes between Dec. 26 and Jan. 31, 1998, and then transported it without a required manifest to a Coastal Marine property which was not licensed to store hazardous wastes. The property was located next to a public park in Port Neches, Texas. Trim was also charged with making a false statement on a hazardous waste label. The violations were discovered after a state inspector was overcome by noxious fumes while inspecting the hazardous waste at the Coastal Marine property. Illegally transporting and storing hazardous wastes can create a public health and safety issue. If convicted on all counts, Trim faces a maximum possible sentence of up to 14 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $1 million. Fultz faces a maximum possible sentence of up to 12 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $750,000, if convicted on all charges. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division Houston Area Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department with the assistance of EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Beaumont. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty in a court of law.
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