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ENRD Archive | ENRD Press Room

Press Releases for 2003

December 19, 2003
Emery Worldwide Airlines Sentenced for Multiple Violations of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tom Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division and Gregory G. Lockhart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, announced today that Emery Worldwide Airlines, Inc. has been sentenced for multiple violations of the Hazardous Material Transportation Act. U.S. District Judge Walter Herbert Rice ordered Emery to pay the maximum $6 million fine ($500,000 for each of the 12 counts) and placed the company on probation for three years.

December 18, 2003
Cruise Ship Engineers Indicted Today for Making False Log Books to Conceal the Dumping of Waste Oil
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tom Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division and Marcos Daniel Jiménez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, today announced that three senior cruise ship engineers were indicted today by a federal grand jury in Miami, Florida, for their role in concealing the overboard dumping of waste oil from the SS Norway cruise ship in false log books designed to deceive the United States Coast Guard.

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Inc. and Employee Charged with Violating the Endangered Species
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice today filed criminal charges in the U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida, against Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Inc. and Wesley E. Higgins for violating the Endangered Species Act by possessing, and later returning to Peru, an orchid that was smuggled into the United States. The maximum penalty for this offense is one year imprisonment and/or a $100,000 fine.

December 16, 2003
Justice Department Announces FY2003 Record Year for Recovery of Civil Penalties in Environmental Cases
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Attorney General John Ashcroft and Assistant Attorney General Tom Sansonetti of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, reported today that Fiscal Year 2003 was a record breaking year for the recovery of civil penalties in environmental cases. Court awards and consent decrees achieved by the Department and United States Attorney's Offices resulted in more than $203 million in penalties for civil violations of the nation's environmental laws. In contrast during the three previous years, awards averaged approximately $75 million.

December 15, 2003
Major N.J. Iron Pipe Manufacturer, Top Managers Charged in Eight-Year Conspiracy to Pollute, Expose Employees to Danger, Cover Up and Impede Investigations
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tom Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Christopher J. Christie, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, today announced that a federal indictment was unsealed in Trenton, N.J., charging a Phillipsburg, N.J. manufacturer of cast iron pipe and five of its managers with committing flagrant environmental abuses, including regular discharge of oil and paint into the Delaware River and maintaining a dangerous workplace that contributed to the death of one employee and the maiming of numerous others

December 3, 2003
U.S. Reaches Settlement with City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Resolving Major Sewer System Violations
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Justice Department, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the State of Ohio and the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) today announced a final settlement with the Board of Commissioners of Hamilton County and the city of Cincinnati that will end long-standing sewer system violations and address raw sewage backing up into residents' basements.

Hazardous Waste Handler in Los Angeles Sentenced to 37 Months for Conspiring to Violate Federal Environmental Laws
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice, and Debra W. Yang, United States Attorney for the Central District of California, announced today that in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, California Hormoz Pourat, Vice President of AAD Distribution and Dry Cleaning Services, Inc. (AAD) and Manager of Right Choice, Inc., was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $1.29 million in penalties for conspiring to violate hazardous waste laws at these two facilities.

November 19, 2003
Kovach Indicted for Importing Protected Peruvian Orchid
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A federal grand jury in Tampa, Florida today returned an indictment charging James Michael Kovach with importing into the United States contrary to law, and transporting, concealing, and selling after importation, one or more protected orchid specimens, specifically specimens of the genus Phragmipedium, commonly known as Tropical lady's slipper orchids. All species of Phragmipedium are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora.

U.S. Files Complaint Against Buckeye Egg Farm of Ohio
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice, on behalf of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), today filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court in Ohio against Buckeye Egg Farm of Ohio for failing to comply with a Clean Air Act (CAA) Administrative Order and Information Request that required them to conduct air emissions testing at three of its facilities.

November 18, 2003
Man Charged for Killing Sea Turtle in Washington
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environmental and Natural Resources Division, today announced the filing of charges in Tacoma, Washington against an individual who collected a green sea turtle from a beach in Ocean Park, Washington, and who later killed the turtle for its shell.

October 30, 2003
Two Men Charged with Shooting at Sea Lions in Washington
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environmental and Natural Resources Division, today announced the filing of a charge in Tacoma, Washington against two individuals for violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act for allegedly shooting at sea lions while they were sport fishing for salmon.

October 16, 2003
U.S. Announces Clean Air Agreement with Chevron U.S.A.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a comprehensive Clean Air Act settlement with Chevron U.S.A. Inc. The settlement is expected to reduce harmful air emissions by almost 10,000 tons per year from five U.S. petroleum refineries that represent more than five percent of the total refining capacity in the United States.

October 8, 2003
Memorandum of Understanding Resolves Criminal Investigation & Natural Resource Damages Claims Against St. Johns River Water Management District
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Thomas Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division and Paul Perez, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, announced today a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the St. Johns River Water Management District resolving a criminal investigation and natural resource damages claims.

October 2, 2003
U.S. Reaches Settlement with Alltel Corporation for Environmental Violations
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced that ALLTEL Corporation, a leading provider of communications and information services, has signed an agreement to carry out cross-cutting environmental compliance audits at its facilities nationwide. The agreement settles claims that ALLTEL violated the Clean Air Act (CAA), Clean Water Act (CWA), and/or the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) at 205 of its facilities in 18 states.

October 1, 2003
U.S. Announces Major Clean Air Act Settlements Under Petroleum Refinery Initiative
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced comprehensive Clean Air Act settlements with Coastal Eagle Point Oil Company (CEPOC), CHS Inc. (Cenex), Ergon-West Virginia Inc. and Ergon Refining Inc. (Ergon). These companies have a collective production capacity of approximately 285,000 barrels per day and will reduce air emissions by more than 3,900 tons per year under the terms of settlements being filed with U.S. District Courts in New Jersey, Montana and Mississippi.

U.S. Enters Into Settlement for $60 Million Fox River Site Cleanup
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Wisconsin announced today they have entered into a settlement agreement with P. H. Glatfelter Co. and WTM I Co. for a $60 million cleanup at the Lower Fox River and Green Bay Site in northeastern Wisconsin. The companies will also make a $3 million partial payment toward natural resource damages, and a $1.05 million payment to reimburse a portion of the costs incurred by EPA, the state, and the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service.

September 30, 2003
Emery Worldwide Airlines Pleads Guilty to Criminal Hazardous Materials Transportation Violations
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice and The Department of Transportation today announced that Emery Worldwide Airlines, Inc. has pled guilty to twelve (12) felony counts for violating the Hazardous Material Transportation Act and agreed to pay a criminal penalty of $6 million and develop a compliance program to detect and deter future violations.

September 25, 2003
U.S. Enters Into Settlement Requiring Cleanup at the Palmerton Zinc Superfund Site
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice, Environmental Protection Agency, and Department of the Interior today announced that they have entered into a consent decree with Viacom International Inc., TCI Pacific Communications, Inc., Horsehead Industries, Inc., and Horsehead Resource Development Company, Inc. in connection with the Palmerton Zinc Pile Superfund site, located in Palmerton, Pennsylvania.

September 4, 2003
Mining Companies Found Liable for Cleanup of Coeur D'alene Basin Contamination
WASHINGTON, D.C.- United States District Court Judge Edward Lodge ruled yesterday that defendants Asarco Incorporated and Hecla Mining Company are liable for the costs incurred by the federal government in cleaning up those companies' mining wastes in the Coeur d'Alene River Basin in northern Idaho, and are liable for injuries to a wide variety of natural resources impacted by those mining wastes.

September 3, 2003
U.S. Requests Minnesota Court Approve Amended Consent Decree in Clean Air Act Settlement With Gopher State Ethanol
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice today announced that it has requested the federal district court in Minnesota approve proposed amendments to the 2002 Clean Air Act settlement with Gopher State Ethanol, in St. Paul. The original Consent Decree was lodged with the Court on October 2, 2002, as one of 12 national settlements to mandate reductions in air pollution from ethanol manufacturing plants.

August 27, 2003
U.S. Announces Sentencing of "Captain" Cook for Illegally Dumping Asbestos Into The Sea
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice and the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia today announced that a federal district court judge sentenced Mr. Ronald Cook, who was convicted as the individual responsible for illegally dumping trash bags full of asbestos and renovation debris into the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere, to 24 months incarceration and three years supervised release.

August 13, 2003
U.S. Resolves Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act Dispute With the State Of Wyoming
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice today announced a settlement with the State of Wyoming to resolve the state's claims that the Department of the Interior and Bureau of Land Management had violated provisions of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act by failing to remove excess wild horses from public lands in Wyoming. Today's settlement provides for the removal of excess wild horses to achieve the appropriate management levels (AMLs) that have been established by the Bureau of Land Management for the herd management areas in Wyoming by December 15, 2004.

August 7, 2003
Statement of Tom Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General Regarding District Court's Ruling on the United States of America v. Ohio Edison Company, et al.
"We are gratified the District Court has accepted the position of the United States in this case. While we are continuing to study the opinion, it is clearly a major initial victory for the people of the United States, the government and a tribute to the career Justice Department and EPA professionals who devoted themselves to the successful presentation of this case."

July 31, 2003
U.S. Recovers $10 Million for Cleanup at the Puente Valley Operable Unit of the San Gabriel Valley Superfund Site
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced the filing of a complaint and the lodging of a consent decree involving the reimbursement of $10 million for cleanup of the Puente Valley Operable Unit of the San Gabriel Valley Superfund Site in Los Angeles County, California. WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced the filing of a complaint and the lodging of a consent decree involving the reimbursement of $10 million for cleanup of the Puente Valley Operable Unit of the San Gabriel Valley Superfund Site in Los Angeles County, California.

U.S. Announces Clean Air Act Settlement With Dupont in Louisville, Kentucky
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced they have reached a settlement with DuPont in connection with Clean Air Act violations involving a May 1997 chemical release from DuPont's fluoroproducts plant in Louisville, Kentucky.

Earthgrains to Pay $5.25 Million Penalty and Phase Out Refrigerants That Damage Ozone Layer
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced a settlement that resolves significant ozone-depletion violations that occurred in the United States. With this settlement, the United States has taken a major step in protecting the ozone layer worldwide by eliminating from the earth's atmosphere harmful refrigerants, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that leak from industrial appliances and have been a major cause of the depletion of the earth's ozone layer in recent years.

Fact Sheet 2003 Environmental Enforcement Accomplishments
On March 11, 2003, Attorney General John Ashcroft and Assistant Attorney General Thomas L. Sansonetti of the Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division affirmed their commitment to vigorous and fair enforcement of the nation's environmental laws to ensure that our citizens breathe cleaner air, drink purer water, and fully enjoy our nation's natural resources.

July 30, 2003
Assistant Attorney General Sansonetti to Highlight Environmental Enforcement Accomplishments
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division Tom Sansonetti will hold a pen and pad with reporters to announce several enforcement related matters and to highlight the Department's environmental enforcement accomplishments on THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2003 at 11:00 a.m. EST.

June 25, 2003
Partial Settlement Reached in Lawsuits as WASA Agrees to Steps to Reduce Sewage Overflow
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced that the United States and a coalition of citizen groups have reached a partial settlement of Clean Water Act litigation against the Washington D.C. Water and Sewer Authority (WASA), launching an extensive program to reduce illegal discharges of untreated sewage into the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers as well as the Rock Creek.

Tyson Pleads Guilty to 20 Felonies And Agrees to Pay $7.5 Million for Clean Water Act Violations
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat producer, today pleaded guilty in federal court in Kansas City to 20 felony violations of the federal Clean Water Act at its Sedalia, Missouri poultry plant and agreed to pay $7.5 million to the United States and the State of Missouri. The guilty pleas were announced by Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, Todd Graves, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, and the State of Missouri.

Businessmen Charged in Scheme to Evade $1.9 Million in Taxes on Sales of Ozone-Depleting Chemical
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environmental and Natural Resources Division, Roslynn R. Mauskopf, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Paul L. Machalek Special Agent-in-Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, New York, today announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Dov Shellef of Great Neck, New York, and William Rubenstein of Colts Neck, New Jersey, with conspiring to evade approximately $1.9 million in excise taxes due on sales of an ozone-depleting chemical called thichlorotrifluoroethane, or CFC-113.

June 6, 2003
U.S. Reaches Settlement With Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Co. on Clean Air Act Power Plants Initiative
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced a multi-million dollar Clean Air Act settlement with Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company, Inc. (SIGECO). The settlement resolves the federal government's claims that SIGECO violated the New Source Review provisions of the Clean Air Act at its F.B. Culley Station plant in Newburgh, Indiana by undertaking major modifications and increasing emissions of air pollution without also installing required air pollution controls.

May 22, 2003
U.S. Files Amended Consent Decree in Response to Public Comments
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency and the state of Minnesota today filed an amended civil settlement with Gopher State Ethanol L.L.C. concerning air emissions from its ethanol production plant in St. Paul, Minnesota. The settlement with Gopher State was originally lodged with the U.S. District Court in St. Paul on October 2, 2002, at the same time as settlements with eleven other Minnesota ethanol producers for alleged Clean Air Act violations.

May 16, 2003
Glencoe, Alabama Man Charged With Selling Cities Counterfeit and Adulterated Pesticides is Arrested
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division and Alice H. Martin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, today announced that a federal grand jury has returned an indictment against William C. Murphy of Glencoe, Alabama who was arrested by federal authorities on Thursday evening, May 15, 2003, and appeared in United States District Court this morning in Birmingham, Alabama.

May 5, 2003
Tin Products Defendants Sentenced for Clean Water Act Violations; Vice-President Receives 18 Months in Prision
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. District Court Judge Cameron Currie today imposed sentences in one of the most significant environmental crimes cases in South Carolina history surrounding the discharge of toxic wastewater that caused fishkill and shut down of a wastewater treatment plant in Lexington County.

April 29, 2003
U.S. Announces Major Clean Air Act Settlement With Wisconsin Electric Power Co.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced a $600 million Clean Air Act settlement with Wisconsin Electric Power Company (WEPCO), also known as We Energies. The settlement resolves the federal government's claims that Wisconsin Electric violated the New Source Review (NSR) provisions of the Clean Air Act at several of its plants by undertaking major modifications and increasing emissions of air pollution without also installing required air pollution controls. The settlement is expected to eliminate more than 105,000 tons of harmful air pollutants annually from five coal-fired electricity generating plants in Wisconsin and Michigan.

April 22, 2003
City of Los Angeles Admits Liability in Thousands of Sewer Spill Incidents Since 1994
LOS ANGELES – The Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board today announced that the City of Los Angeles has admitted liability for more than 3,600 sewer spills dating back to 1994.

April 21, 2003
U.S. Announces Largest Clean Air Act Settlement With Utility
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced the largest Clean Air Act settlement of an enforcement matter against a utility. Virginia Electric Power Co. has agreed to spend $1.2 billion between now and 2013 to eliminate 237,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions each year from eight coal-fired electricity generating plants in Virginia and West Virginia.

April 15, 2003
U.S. Enters Into Settlement With RSR Corp. to Clean Up West Dallas Lead Site
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice, Environmental Protection Agency and state of Texas today announced that they have entered into a consent decree with RSR Corporation, and its wholly owned subsidiaries, Quemetco Metals Limited, Inc., and Quemetco, Inc., in connection with the RSR Corporation Superfund Site, also known as the West Dallas Lead Site, located in Dallas, Texas.

April 11, 2003
Former Company Vice President Convicted of Conspiring to Falsify Data on Millions of Gallons of Reformulated Gasoline
NEWARK – Late this afternoon, a former vice president of a multinational petroleum products testing company was convicted a charge of conspiring to violate the federal Clean Air Act and a variety of fraud statutes, as well as for obstructing justice, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie and Tom Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division announced.

April 9, 2003
Federal, Multi-State Deal Secures Significant Air Pollution Reductions From Industrial Giant Archer Daniels Midland
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced a landmark Clean Air Act settlement with grain industry giant Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), which will cover operations at 52 plants in 16 states and cost the company an estimated $340 million. The settlement is the result of an unprecedented joint federal and state enforcement effort with 14 state and county entities signing onto the consent decree.

United States Announces Clean Air Act Coal-Fired Power Plant Settlement With Alcoa
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced a major Clean Air Act settlement with Alcoa, Inc. under which the company will spend an estimated $330 million to install a new coal-fired power plant with state-of-the-art pollution controls to eliminate the vast majority of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from the power plant at Alcoa's aluminum production facility in Rockdale, Texas.

April 1, 2003
U.S. Reaches Landmark Settlement With Colonial Pipeline for Oil Spills in Five States
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced a settlement with Colonial Pipeline Company, resolving charges that the company violated the Clean Water Act on seven recent occasions by spilling 1.45 million gallons of oil from its 5,500 mile pipeline in five states. Under the consent decree, Colonial will upgrade environmental protection on the pipeline at an estimated cost of at least $30 million, and pay $34 million, the largest civil penalty a company has paid in EPA history.

March 27, 2003
U.S. Enters Into Settlement for Stamina Mills, Inc. Superfund Site
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency announced today they have entered into a settlement agreement with Kayser-Roth Corporation in connection with the Stamina Mills Superfund Site located in North Smithfield, Rhode Island.

March 20, 2003
The Justice Department, EPA and State Attorneys General Release Guidelines for Joint Environmental Enforcement
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), in cooperation with the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA), today announced the release of their "Guidelines for Joint State/Federal Civil Environmental Enforcement Litigation," intended to assist states and the federal government in the conduct of joint civil environment enforcement litigation. The Guidelines were unveiled today during the NAAG annual conference being held in Washington, D.C.

March 19, 2003
U.S. Reaches Agreement With Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority to End Illegal Discharges of Raw Sewage
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a settlement with the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) of charges the company unlawfully discharged untreated sewage into the environment of Puerto Rico and violated pollutant discharge permits issued by EPA under the Clean Water Act. The consent decree was lodged on Thursday, March 13 with the Federal District Court in San Juan.

March 18, 2003
Captain Cook Convicted for Illegally Dumping Asbestos Into the Sea
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Justice and the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia today announced that a federal jury has convicted the individual responsible for illegally dumping trash bags full of asbestos into the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere.

March 12, 2003
U. S. Announces Agreement for Clean Up of Santa Fe Springs Superfund Site
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced they have lodged a consent decree with the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles requiring 17 companies to clean up the Waste Disposal Inc. Superfund site in Santa Fe Springs.

March 11, 2003
U.S. Announces Clean Air Agreement With Lion Oil
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced a comprehensive Clean Air Act settlement with Lion Oil Company to reduce harmful air emissions from the company's El Dorado, Ark., refinery by 1,380 tons per year. The State of Arkansas is joining in the settlement.

March 10, 2003
U.S. Enters Into Settlement for Re-Solve, Inc. Superfund Site
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency announced today that they have entered into a settlement agreement with Vulcan International Corporation in connection with the Re-Solve, Inc. Superfund Site located in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Under the proposed settlement, Vulcan, one of the potentially responsible parties in the case, will be held responsible to reimburse the Superfund account in the amount of $3.8 million.

Attorney General to Discuss Environmental Enforcement at Pen and Pad Briefing
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Attorney General John Ashcroft, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division Tom Sansonetti, and U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska Timothy Burgess will hold a pen and pad with reporters regarding the Department's environmental enforcement priorities TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2003 at 1:30 p.m. EST.

March 7, 2003
United States Settles Clean Air Act Case Against Toyota
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice and the Environment Protection Agency today announced a settlement of the government's lawsuit against Toyota Motor Corporation for Clean Air Act violations involving 2.2 million vehicles manufactured between 1996 and 1998. Under the settlement, Toyota will spend $20 million on a supplemental environmental project to retrofit up to 3,000 public diesel fleet vehicles to make them run cleaner and extend the emission control system warranty on affected vehicles.

March 3, 2003
U.S. Lodges Consent Decrees at the Thea Foss Superfund Site
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Justice Department today announced it is simultaneously lodging a complaint and two separate consent decrees at the Thea Foss and Wheeler Osgood Problem Areas of the Commencement Bay/Nearshore Tideflats Superfund Site, located near Tacoma, Washington.

February 25, 2003
U.S. Court Upholds EPA Drinking Water Standards
WASHINGTON - The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld EPA's rule setting limits on the permissible level of radionuclides in drinking water. The regulation retains the existing standards for the radionuclides radium-226, radium-228, and certain beta/photon emitters, and establishes standards for uranium for the first time.

February 20, 2003
U.S. & Virginia Reach $3.8 Million Settlement With Trucking Firm for Damaging Chemical Spill in Southwestern Virginia
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia have reached a $3.8 million settlement with Certus Inc., a interstate trucking company, to recover natural resource damages and assessment costs arising from a chemical spill from an overturned tanker truck, the Justice Department announced today.

February 14, 2003
Nearly $32 Million in Settlements Reached to Aid in Cleanup at California Superfund Site
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency announced today settlements with 50 parties totaling $31.9 million to be used to cleanup the Casmalia Resources Hazardous Waste Management Facility Superfund site in Central California. The site was listed on the National Priorities List on September 13, 2001.

January 30, 2003
U.S. Reaches Deal With Copper Giant Asarco to Sell Assets to Parent Company
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States has reached an agreement with ASARCO, one of the world's major producers of copper and other metals, that will provide for an environmental trust fund for environmental remediation efforts, the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

January 28, 2003
South Carolina Company & Vice President of Firm Plead Guilty to Violating Clean Water Act
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The vice president of Tin Products Inc. of Lexington, South Carolina entered a plea of guilty for himself and on behalf of the corporation for violating the Clean Water Act (CWA). James H. Goldman Jr. pleaded guilty to knowingly discharging and causing company employees to discharge organotins wastewater to the Lexington County Joint Municipal Water and Sewer Commission treatment works. Organotins are used for plumbing pipes, glass coatings and fixtures and the discharges are toxic to aquatic life.

January 22, 2003
U.S. & Illinois Reach Settlement With Bankrupt Laclede Steel to Facilitate Clean-Up & Reopening of Alton, Illinois Mill
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Justice Department, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the state of Illinois today announced a settlement with the bankrupt Laclede Steel Company that will lead to the sale and partial reopening of the company's former steel mill in Alton, Illinois. As part of the settlement, Laclede will sell the mill to Alton Steel for

January 17, 2003
Olympic/Shell Settle with U.S. and State of Washington for $92 Million in Connection with Fatal Pipeline Rupture
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Justice Department, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and state of Washington announced today that a civil settlement has been reached with Olympic Pipe Line Company and Shell Pipeline Company LP for environmental violations leading to the 1999 fatal pipeline rupture in Bellingham, Washington.

January 16, 2003
United States Reaches Settlement With Koppers Industries to Settle Scores of Environmental Violations
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Koppers Industries, Inc. agreed to pay the United States $2.9 million to resolve allegations of numerous violations of several environmental regulations at many of the company's U.S. facilities and committed to carry out an environmental management system (EMS), the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. The Pittsburgh-based company engages in coke making (a carbon-rich fuel used as a heat source to melt iron ore), coal tar production and wood preserving at facilities throughout the United States.

January 15, 2003
Ohio Man Indicted for Violation of The Clean Air Act
INDIANAPOLIS, IN — John Littlehale, age 48, of Terrace Park, Ohio was indicted today on charges of conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act, as well as for making a false statement in violation of the Clean Air Act, Susan W. Brooks, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana and Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Department of the Justice Department announced.

January 8, 2003
Kingpin in Ozone Depleting CFCs Import Conspiracy Sentenced to 6 ½ Years in Prison
HARTFORD, CT – Barry Himes, the lead defendant in a complex multi-year, multi-million dollar conspiracy to import and sell ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbon gases ("CFCs") by false pretenses and to avoid taxes was sentenced today to a term of 6½ years in prison. Himes was also ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution, as well as a fine of $12,500. He had previously forfeited a $3 million dollar mansion on the Connecticut River, a BMW sedan and a three-carat diamond ring, in accordance with the terms of a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Haven, Conn., and the Environmental Crimes Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.



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