Environmental Enforcement News

An Ohio man pleaded guilty to removing emissions control devices required by the Clean Air Act from customers’ vehicles after previously agreeing to a civil resolution with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for similar misconduct.

Plant-based ingredient maker Ingredion Incorporated today agreed to a settlement with the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), along with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) and the Indiana Attorney General’s Office, to settle claims that it violated the Clean Air Act (CAA) at its corn wet milling facility in Indianapolis. 

The Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with Coffeyville Resources Refining & Marketing LLC and its affiliated companies (CRRM) for violations of the Clean Air Act and a previous consent decree related to operation of its petroleum refinery in Coffeyville, Kansas. These violations resulted in illegal emissions of various pollutants including an EPA estimate of over 2,300 excess tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2), a pollutant that can make breathing more difficult, from the refinery’s flares from 2015 to 2017.

Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, 63, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, pleaded guilty today to a conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and a conspiracy to launder money. Antle is the owner and operator of The Institute for Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.S.), also known as the Myrtle Beach Safari.

The Justice Department lodged two proposed consent decrees in federal court among Tribal, state and federal natural resource trustees and over 20 potentially responsible parties (PRPs) at the Portland Harbor Superfund Site in Oregon.

The Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), Office of Environmental Justice and Office of Tribal Justice convened a Federal/Tribal Regional Summit in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this week. The event was hosted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Summit participants also included representatives from the FBI, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as Tribal nations representatives from California, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

A Florida husband and wife, Noel and Kelsy Hernandez Quintana, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to import plywood contrary to the Lacey Act and customs laws, and to selling plywood products that were illegally imported and sold. Noel Quintana also pleaded guilty to one count of smuggling and one count of violation the Lacey Act. Kelsy Quintana also pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the Lacey Act. The total loss of duties owed on the illegally imported wood products was approximately $42 million. The plywood’s market value was between $25 million and $65 million.

Two men pleaded guilty for their roles in creating false calibration certificates in a matter within the jurisdiction of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

A federal jury in Madison, Wisconsin, convicted current and former Didion Milling Inc. officials of workplace safety, environmental, fraud and obstruction of justice charges following a deadly explosion in 2017 at a corn mill that Didion Milling operated in Cambria, Wisconsin. The explosion killed five workers and seriously injured others.

The Justice Department’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) released its first-ever Comprehensive Environmental Justice Enforcement Strategy Annual Report, highlighting the department’s recent accomplishments in cases with environmental justice concerns and outlining the department’s strategy for engaging with and delivering results to communities long overburdened by pollution.

Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division delivered the keynote address at the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources’ 31st Fall Conference in Washington, DC.

The Justice Department today announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Dr. John Waldrop, 74, of Cataula, Georgia, and Toney Jones, 53, of Eufala, Alabama, on conspiracy, smuggling, Endangered Species Act (ESA) and money laundering charges. An arraignment in federal court is scheduled for Oct. 16.