Week In Review – Hammond

Hammond, Indiana - The United States Attorney’s Office announced the following activity in Federal Court:

DISPOSITIONS:

Ronald Holmes, 47, of Griffith, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 4 years of probation, a $30,000 fine and 100 hours of community service after pleading guilty to a felony Information charging him with causing the discharge of pollutants into the Hammond Sanitary District’s publicly owned treatment works when he had not been issued a permit by the Hammond Sanitary District to do so.In a separate Information, NH Environmental pleaded guilty to negligently violating a national pretreatment standard under the Clean Water Act, in that the company negligently discharged, trucked or hauled pollutants, including industrial, sanitary, and food industry-related wastes, into a publicly owned treatment works at a location that had not been designated, approved, or otherwise permitted. NH Environmental was sentenced to 4 years of probation, a $75,000 in restitution to the City of Hammond, $25,000 in restitution to the Hammond Sanitary District and a $70,000 fine.According to documents filed in this case, Holmes and East Chicago based NH Environmental Group, Inc. (“Tierra”), a company owned by Holmes, both pleaded guilty to Clean Water Act violations. Holmes told Tierra managers to direct the company’s drivers to dispose of liquid wastes by regularly discharging tanker truckloads down a drain inside a building that was owned and/or controlled by Holmes and located in Hammond, Indiana. This case was a result of an investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Toi Houston, Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Section Senior Counsel James A. Morgulec and Special Assistant United States Attorney David Mucha.