Charleston Man and Airport Service Business Plead Guilty to Hazardous Waste Charge

CHARLESTON, W.Va. –  Brian Scott Miller, the President  of Executive Air Terminal, Inc., and Executive Air Terminal, Inc. each pled guilty to the felony offense of Storage of Hazardous Waste without a Permit, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart.    Executive Air provides fueling and other services for private and commercial airplanes at Yeager Airport in Charleston. Miller is the owner and president of Executive Air.    Stuart praised the work of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and the Yeager Airport Police Department.

“Business owners have a responsibility to legally and safely dispose of hazardous waste,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart.  “And everyone will be held accountable for violating these responsibilities.”  

Miller, 56, of Charleston, faces up to 5 years of in prison, a $250,000 fine, supervised release for three years, and a special assessment when he is scheduled to be sentenced on July 19, 2018 by United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin.  Executive Air faces a corporate fine of up to $500,000.

Executive Air’s business of  fueling and servicing planes generated hazardous waste.  The waste was stored in unlabeled 55 gallon drums that were kept on site.   By September of 2015, Executive Air had accumulated 37 drums of waste fluid, of which 27 drums were hazardous under federal law.  The 27 drums of hazardous waste included a mix of oil, aviation gas, and jet fuel, and each drum was hazardous because it was either ignitable, toxic, or both.   Executive Air did not have the federally required permit to store such a large quantity of hazardous waste.   Miller admitted that he knew about the drums of waste material at Executive Air.  In his plea agreement, Miller admitted that he directed that employees of Executive Air  to dispose of the waste drums in September of 2015.  Instead of hiring a licensed hazardous waste hauler, the employees moved the drums in the middle of the night to a farm outside Charleston, West Virginia.  The drums were further moved to a building in Charleston where they were discovered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division in November 2015.  Once discovered, the drums were then sent to a licensed hazardous waste disposal facility for proper disposal. 

Assistant United States Attorney Erik S. Goes and Special Assistant United States Attorney Perry D. McDaniel are handling the prosecution.

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