FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ENR
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1998
(202) 514-2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
TDD (202) 514-1888
COMPEQ INTERNATIONAL TO PAY $1.35 MILLION IN FINES, CONTRIBUTIONS
Judge Orders Largest Federal Criminal Penalty in Utah for Clean Water Act Violations
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In a case involving the largest federal criminal fine in the State of Utah, Compeq International, Inc. will pay $1 million in fines and $350,000 in voluntary contributions for illegally diluting its copper-contaminated wastewater and for discharging its copper-contaminated wastewater in excess of legal limits into the Salt Lake City sewer system, the Justice Department announced today.
"Today's sentencing makes clear that if you pollute, you will pay more than the cost to comply," said Lois J. Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General for Environment and Natural Resources at the Department of Justice. "There simply is no excuse for Compeq illegally diluting and discharging copper-contaminated wastewater. We will vigorously prosecute and punish those who commit such crimes."
Compeq International, a Utah corporation, owns and operates a printed circuit board manufacturing facility in Salt Lake City. Federal District Judge Bruce Jenkins sentenced Compeq to pay $1 million in fines, $350,000 in voluntary contributions, and a probationary period of five years. The voluntary contributions will go to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality's Hazardous Substances Mitigation Fund, the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities, and the Western States Project, which trains environmental investigators.
On October 2, 1998, Compeq entered a guilty plea to three felony violations of the federal Clean Water Act. In its plea, Compeq admitted to violating the law by diluting its copper-contaminated wastewater and to discharging wastewater with copper concentrations in excess of legal limits. The Compeq facility is connected to a sewer system operated by the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities.
In 1991, Compeq began manufacturing printed circuit boards in Salt Lake City. The manufacturing process generated large quantities of copper-contaminated wastewater. Compeq received a permit from the Salt Lake City Public Utilities Department that set permissible levels of copper for Compeq's wastewater and that prohibited diluting wastewater in lieu of proper pretreatment that removed copper, which is designated as a toxic pollutant under the Clean Water Act.
The guilty plea and sentence followed an investigation by the Criminal Investigation Division of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Environmental Crimes Unit of the Utah Attorney General's Office. The Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Section and the U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted the case in federal court.
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