United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

FORMER ATLANTIC WIRE EMPLOYEE IS SENTENCED

Nora R. Dannehy, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ROBERT MEYER, 56, of Southbury, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Christopher F. Droney in Hartford to one year of probation for violating the federal Clean Water Act while employed at the now-defunct Atlantic Wire Co., LLC, of Branford.  Judge Droney also ordered MEYER to pay a fine in the amount of $1000 and perform 50 hours of community service.  MEYER pleaded guilty on July 21, 2009.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Atlantic Wire Co., LLC (“Atlantic Wire”) was a company involved in the cleaning and manufacturing of wire.  MEYER was hired by Atlantic Wire as its Vice President for Finance in May 2005.

In the course of the manufacturing process, Atlantic Wire used sulfuric and hydrochloric acid as part of the stripping process and highly alkaline materials as part of its coating process.   These manufacturing activities generated highly acidic and/or caustic wastewaters that contained iron, zinc, copper, and suspended solids.  Copper and zinc were listed by EPA as toxic pollutants.  Atlantic Wire’s wastewater was collected and treated on-site in the facility’s wastewater treatment system before being discharged into the Branford River.

Under the Clean Water Act,  Atlantic Wire was prohibited from discharging pollutants to the Branford River except in compliance with the conditions and limitations of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CT DEP) under delegation from the EPA.   Atlantic Wire’s NPDES permit established both general and specific conditions and limitations.  The general conditions of the permit required Atlantic Wire to operate and maintain properly all facilities and systems for wastewater collection, storage, treatment and control that were installed or used to achieve compliance with the permit.

Shortly after being hired by Atlantic Wire, in approximately July 2005, MEYER was asked to assume additional responsibilities for supervising environmental compliance and for human resources.  MEYER’s new duties included responsibility for supervising the environmental manager and issues related to the wastewater treatment system.  MEYER had no training or background that qualified him for this new assignment.  MEYER’s new responsibilities also made him the principal and designated point of contact with Connecticut DEP, and he was responsible for reporting wastewater violations to the Connecticut DEP by phone or in writing, and, on a monthly basis, certifying the completeness and accuracy of monthly Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) and affirming the dependability of the system in place to collect reported data.   MEYER signed the correspondence to the CT DEP, and participated in on-site visits with the CT DEP.

Sometime after July 2005, MEYER became aware that Atlantic Wire’s wastewater treatment system was not meeting permit limits.  Throughout this time period, Atlantic Wire’s environmental manager, who reported to MEYER, notified MEYER of wastewater treatment problems and instances of permit noncompliance.  When prompted by the environmental manager to report specific violations to CT DEP, MEYER did so.  There were instances these reports were made outside the time parameters expressly required by the permit.

In response to recurring problems with the waste treatment system, CT DEP conducted a water compliance inspection in January 2007 and found, among other things, that Atlantic Wire had violated its permit in nine of the preceding 12 months and had failed to properly report some of those violations.

On May 21, 2007, the environmental manager prepared a memorandum for MEYER and left it on his desk, informing MEYER of violations of permit limits for  pH that occurred on approximately May 16, 2007, that extremely acidic wastewater had been discharged into the Branford River, and that it appeared that Atlantic Wire employees had failed to monitor water pH for a several day period.  MEYER did not discuss the memorandum with the environmental manager or with other supervisors or employees at Atlantic Wire.  Further, he did not specifically contact an outside environmental consultant in response to the referenced memorandum, nor did he notify the CT DEP of the violations.  His failure to notify CT DEP orally within two hours or in writing within five days of his becoming aware of the violations was a negligent violation of the discharge permit’s reporting requirements.

In May 2007, after the environmental manager announced his retirement, the Company assigned the responsibilities of the environmental manager to a current employee, a recent college graduate, who was already fully employed as the product metallurgist at the plant and, who, by his own admission, had no idea how to deal with environmental operations or the relevant reporting requirements.

Atlantic Wire’s wastewater treatment system depended on several critical components to work properly, a functioning lamella clarifier and available holding space in the 80,000-gallon sludge holding tank.  The purpose of the lamella clarifier was to remove metals and other pollutants from the wastewater by allowing the water during the treatment process to run through a series of baffles, which would slow the water and give solids time to settle out, sinking to a sedimentary layer at the bottom of the clarifier, where they could be removed as sludge.  The “clarified” wastewater would then flow over the top of the clarifier and discharge to the Branford River without further treatment.

During the Summer 2007, MEYER and other management learned that the holding tank was in danger of bypassing on occasion, and the cleaning houses would be shut down when this happened.  The cleaning houses were being shut down twice a day, every other day, or a total of three to four times a week.  MEYER acknowledges that, during this time period, he did not confirm whether there had been any discharges as a result of the shutdowns and whether they were being properly reported to him and he did not take measures to ensure that he was being provided with accurate data for reporting.

On September 4, 2007, an acid pipe ruptured at the facility and the pH of the discharge dropped to 1.4 standard units – far below the permit minimum of 6.0 units.  The wastewater remained below the permit limit for at least two hours and 55 minutes, during which time the Company discharged approximately 6,400 gallons of wastewater into the Branford River.  The Connecticut DEP was not notified of the discharge and did not learn of the incident until a local fisherman reported the death of hundreds of blue crabs in the vicinity of Atlantic Wire’s discharge pipe.  As the Company official responsible for making all notifications required by the permit, MEYER again was negligent in failing to ensure that this incident was reported in a timely manner.

On December 30, 2008, Atlantic Wire Co. LLC pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the federal Clean Water Act and one count of submitting false statements to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.

Atlantic Wire is now defunct with no remaining employees or assets.  On February 18, 2009, the United States Bankruptcy Court approved Atlantic Wire’s plan of liquidation.  As part Atlantic Wire’s bankruptcy plan and order, the corporate owner of Atlantic Wire agreed to address any above-ground environmental remediation required by the shutting down of operations.  Under the supervision of the CT DEP, the waste treatment system, piping and tanks were dismantled and removed; the contents of the cleaning houses were dismantled and properly disposed, and all tanks and equipment associated with those processes were completely removed; all chemicals, tanks, drums, containers, and wastes were removed from the site and appropriately disposed; and the areas surrounding the cleaning houses, wastewater treatment system, and storage tanks were cleaned of contaminants to the “hard surfaces.”  All surface structures, tanks, wastes, materials and chemicals that, if left unattended, could have caused a release or discharge to the river, have been removed.  Discharge points or other conduits to the river were eliminated, and stormwater was redirected in a manner so that no release to the Branford River could occur.  The total cost of this environmental remediation project was approximately $740,000.

This matter was investigated by the Criminal Investigation Division of the Environmental Protection Agency, with the cooperation of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office.  The case was prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Christopher W. Schmeisser and Special Assistant United States Attorney Peter Kenyon.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov