Environmental Crimes Bulletin August 2023 Week 3

In this issue:

• United States v. Idrissa Bagayoko, No. 1:23-CR-00265 (D. Md.), AUSAs LaRai Everett and Kimberly Phillips, and RCEC David Lastra
• United States v. Care Environmental Corporation, No. 7:23-CR-00034 (M.D. Ga.), AUSA Leah McEwen and RCEC Keith Weisinger
• United States v. New Orleans Steamboat Company, No. 2:23-CR-00108 (E.D. La.), AUSA Carter K.D. Guice, Jr
• United States v. View, Inc., No. 3:22-CR-00151 (N.D. Miss.), AUSA Robert Mims
• United States v. Milwaukee Precision Casting, Inc., No. 2:23-CR-00131 (E.D. Wisc.), AUSAs Peter Smyczek and Julie Stewart
• United States v. Bay Fresh Oyster Company, Inc., et al., No. 2:21-CR-00027 (W.D. La), AUSA Daniel McCoy

United States v. Idrissa Bagayoko, No. 1:23-CR-00265 (D. Md.), AUSAs LaRai Everett and Kimberly Phillips, and RCEC David Lastra

On August 14, 2023, prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging Idrissa Bagayoko with violating the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (HMTA) (7 U.S.C. §§ 136j(a)(1)(A), 136l(b)(1)(B); 49 U.S.C. § 5124).

On September 29, 2021, Bagayoko, a resident of New York, travelled to Maryland with boxes of Sniper DDVP, an unregistered pesticide. Dichlorvos, the active ingredient, is a listed hazardous chemical under DOT regulations. Bagayoko did not possess the necessary paperwork, required under the HMTA, to transport 18 boxes of this material.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation.

United States v. Care Environmental Corporation, No. 7:23-CR-00034 (M.D. Ga.), AUSA Leah McEwen and RCEC Keith Weisinger

On August 14, 2023, Care Environmental Corporation (CEC) pleaded to violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act for knowingly storing hazardous waste without a permit (42 U.S.C. § 6928(d)(2)(A)). Sentencing is scheduled for January 10, 2024.

Between 2004 and 2019, CEC collected and disposed of waste, including hazardous waste, from households and generators across the eastern United States. In December 2018, the company stopped receiving materials after voluntarily deciding to close the facility. Working with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GAEPD) the company developed a closure plan for removing the chemicals stored onsite. GAEPD regularly inspected the site as CEC began to implement a cleanup.

In October 2019, the GAEPD notified the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency following an emergency response inspection. Inspectors found approximately 2,100 55-gallon drums, 200 large totes, and two storage tanks containing waste substances in the warehouse, some of which were leaking. GAEPD personnel also found hazardous materials stored in office areas that presented a serious fire and explosion hazard. The chemicals they identified included yellow phosphorus, carbon tetrachloride, hydrogen sulfide, elemental mercury, and fumigants.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division conducted the investigation.

United States v. New Orleans Steamboat Company, No. 2:23-CR-00108 (E.D. La.), AUSA Carter K.D. Guice, Jr

On August 14, 2023, a court sentenced New Orleans Steamboat Company (NOSC) to pay a $50,000 fine and complete a one-year term of probation. NOSC pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act for discharging excess ballast material into the Industrial Canal (Canal) in New Orleans in 2019 (33 U.S.C. § 1319(c)(2)(A)). Company employee Matt Dow was sentenced to complete a one-year term of probation and perform 40 hours of community service. A restitution hearing is scheduled for October 17, 2023.

The NOSC operates two commercial steamboats on the Mississippi River, the M/V Natchez and M/V City of New Orleans. The New Orleans previously operated as a casino boat and required renovations prior to obtaining U.S. Coast Guard certification as a passenger vessel. One of these renovations included adding ballast weight to the vessel’s hull.

In September 2019, a former NOSC employee notified authorities that he had videotaped NOSC employees and supervisors dumping a black waste material from the New Orleans into the Canal, a waterway connecting the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, both navigable waters of the United States.

During the renovation, NOSC employees discovered that, once they had removed the casino equipment, the New Orleans was too light to meet Coast Guard standards for passenger tour boats. As a result, NOSC supervisors directed employees to place ballast material into the boat’s hull. This ballast material consisted of recycled metal mixed with “Perma Ballast,” which, when combined with water, formed a cement-like material that could be pumped into the hull of the boat where it could harden to add weight and stability.

NOSC workers, however, mistakenly added approximately 40 tons of excess ballast material that they then had to remove in order to pass Coast Guard inspection. Dow, NOSC Assistant of Marine Operations, instructed employees to use jackhammers to break up the hardened ballast material, which was then placed into a bucket. The bucket was lifted out by a cable attached to a forklift. Crew members weighed and recorded each load that they dumped into the Canal. An estimated 4,365 pounds of waste was dumped into the Canal on February 12, 2019, at Dow’s direction.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, and the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation.

United States v. View, Inc., No. 3:22-CR-00151 (N.D. Miss.), AUSA Robert Mims

On August 15, 2023, a court sentenced View, Inc., to pay a $3 million fine and complete a three-year term of probation. The company will also make a $450,000 community service payment to DeSoto County Regional Utility Authority to expand the wastewater treatment capacity in the county. As part of the resolution of the criminal charges, View, Inc., also entered into a civil order with the Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality and will pay an additional $1,500,000.

The company pleaded guilty to negligently violating the Clean Water Act for discharging wastewater into a Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) without a permit (33 U.S.C. §§ 1319(c)(1)(A), 1342(b)). The company manufactures electrochromic glass windows that darken after applying electricity. Wastewater derived from its glass cutting, grinding, washing, and polishing process is discharged at two points connected to the city’s sewer system. The company qualifies as a “significant industrial user” for discharging approximately 248,000 gallons per day to the city’s POTW, accounting for more than 38 percent of the 537,000 gallons permitted daily. Between December 2018, and June 2021, the company negligently violated a requirement of its pretreatment program by discharging without a permit.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality conducted the investigation.

United States v. Milwaukee Precision Casting, Inc., No. 2:23-CR-00131 (E.D. Wisc.), AUSAs Peter Smyczek and Julie Stewart

On August 17, 2023, Milwaukee Precision Casting, Inc. (MPC), pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §§ 1317(d),1319(c)(1)(A)).

MPC operated a casting foundry that produced simple cast steel and aluminum components for the military, firearms, medical, and aerospace industries. The casting process involves using corrosive chemicals and generates hazardous wastewater.

MPC's facility contained a sump pit, which was connected to the publicly owned treatment works (POTW) system operated by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage District (MMSD). MPC and its employees discharged untreated corrosive chemical waste, including waste with a pH below 5.0, through the sump pit into the POTW. MPC did not have the necessary industrial pretreatment permits from MMSD to properly discharge pollutants into the Milwaukee sewage system.

Between June 2020, and September 2021, MPC negligently discharged pollutants with a pH below 5.0 into the POTW.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.

United States v. Bay Fresh Oyster Company, Inc., et al., No. 2:21-CR-00027 (W.D. La), AUSA Daniel McCoy

Between August 17 and August 30, 2023, a court sentenced a seafood company and five fishermen for conspiring to illegally harvest and sell raw oysters in violation of the Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(2)(A) and 3373(d)(1)(B)):

Bay Fresh Oyster Company, Inc. (BFO), will pay a $5,000 fine. Phillip Cecil Dyson will pay a $500 fine and complete a two-year term of probation. Kerwin Tyler Perry, Adley Leo Dyson, Clarence Dyson, III, and Kirk Patrick Daigle will each pay $500 fines and complete one-year terms of probation. The 13th and final defendant, Philip Cecil Dyson, II, was sentenced on September 13, 2023, to pay a $500 fine and complete a one-year term of probation.

Between March and May 2019, the defendants harvested raw oysters from Calcasieu Lake. violating Louisiana and federal law by creating and submitting false records after illegally harvesting the oysters. They violated Louisiana law, by, among other things: harvesting oysters in amounts exceeding state limits; harvesting outside of legal harvest hours; failing to secure proper permits to allow legal harvest; using revoked permits; and harvesting oysters from areas closed for harvesting.

BFO purchased and transported illegally harvested oysters across state lines to its facility in Texas where employees falsified records by tagging the oysters as harvested by different harvesters.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries conducted the investigation.

Environmental Crimes Bulletin