Chemical Manufacturer in Rice County Pleads Guilty to Violating Safe Water Act

WICHITA, KAN. – A chemical manufacturing company in Rice County pleaded guilty Tuesday to unlawfully disposing of hazardous waste into a salt water disposal well and paid a $1 million fine.

JACAM Manufacturing, LLC, of Sterling, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of violating the federal Safe Water Drinking Act and one count of violating the Resource Conservation Recovery Act. In the plea, the company admitted to disposing of hazardous wastes in an injection well permitted only for the disposal of salt water. JACAM admitted it was unlawfully disposing of acetone, benzene and other hazardous chemicals into a salt water disposal well.

The Safe Water Drinking Act identifies salt water disposal wells as a potential source of pollution to the nation’s underground aquifers. The Resource Conservation Recovery Act created a “cradle-to-gave” regulatory scheme to track hazardous wastes from their point of generation to their final disposal.

Grissom commended the Environmental Protection Agency, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Metzger for their work on the case.