Maine Man Pleads Guilty To Clean Water Act Violation

          CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE – Acting United States Attorney Donald Feith announced that Christopher Garrity, of Leeds, Maine has pleaded guilty to a one-count information alleging that he discharged a pollutant into a navigable water, in this case the Piscataqua River, without a permit, in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.

          On June 26, 2013, agents of the Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigations Division were called to the New Hampshire facility of Grimmel Industries, L.L.C., after the Portsmouth Harbor Master discovered polluted water from a tanker truck located on the Grimmel facility being discharged through a hose directly to the Piscataqua River.  Garrity was employed as the terminal manager at the time of the discharge and he was aware that the tanker truck storage of the polluted water was part of a civil agreement between Grimmel Industries and the EPA to avoid discharges to the river.  An investigation by the EPA identified Garrity as the individual responsible for connecting the hose to the truck and allowing the discharge to the river.

          Garrity will be sentenced on February 2, 2016.  He faces a statutory maximum sentence of   three (3) years and a possible maximum fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $50,000 per day of violation.  If Garrity is sentenced to prison he will also serve a period of supervised release that begins upon his release from prison.

          The case was investigated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division. The Portsmouth Harbor Master’s Office of the Pease Development Authority, Division of Ports and Harbors was instrumental in the successful investigation and prosecution of this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Alfred Rubega is prosecuting this case.