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CITY OF ROANOKE, VA. PLEADS GUILTY TO HAZARDOUS WASTE CRIME
Release Date: 01/20/2000
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2000
CITY OF ROANOKE, VA. PLEADS GUILTY
TO HAZARDOUS WASTE CRIME
TO HAZARDOUS WASTE CRIME
The city of Roanoke, Va., pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Jan. 12, in U.S. District Court in Roanoke for violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act by illegally storing hazardous waste without a permit from 1994 to 1998. The city must pay a $125,000 fine, implement a comprehensive environmental management system and spend $475,000 on environmental projects. The charges against Roanoke arose from improper storage of hazardous waste at the city Public Works Service Center (PWSC) and other locations, including a park and recreation facility. Drums of materials stored at the facilities contained a variety of materials including asphalt patch material and ignitable oil-based paints that contained hazardous levels of lead and the solvent toluene. In addition, the defendant buried drums at the PWSC site. Human exposure to lead in sufficient quantities can produce a variety of neurological illnesses and disorders of the skeleton and internal organs. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division with the assistance of EPA’s National Enforcement Investigation Center, the Virginia State Police and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia.
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