Pennsylvania Company and Owner Sentenced for Violating the Clean Water and Clean Air Act

BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Lycoming Construction Services, LLC., a Pennsylvania Limited Liability Company located in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, which was convicted of violating the Clean Air Act, was sentenced to two years probation and a fine of $100,000 by Chief U.S. District Court Judge William M. Skretny. In addition, Leo M. Williams, 66, the owner of Lycoming, was sentenced to one year probation and a fine of $25,000 for violating the Clean Water Act.    As part of the sentencing, the corporation was also ordered to form an environmental training program for its employees, and Williams was ordered to pay $5,000 to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to resolve OSHA violations stemming from this case.

Assistant U. S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who handled the case, stated that both cases stemmed from the demolition of the Dahlstrom industrial complex, located at 443-499 Buffalo Street in Jamestown, N.Y., from January 2012 to November 2013. This project involved the demolition of a cluster of condemned buildings on either side of the Chadakoin River, which is a water of the United States.

Prior to the start of the demolition, an asbestos survey identified that some of the buildings contained asbestos. In February 2012, company employees entered one of the condemned buildings and removed regulated asbestos containing material without adequately wetting it, in violation of the Clean Air Act asbestos work practice standards.  In addition, water contaminated with dust and debris from the demolition was allowed to flow offsite directly into the Chadakoin River. Defendant Williams should have been aware that such contaminated water was flowing into the river, and acted negligently in allowing the water to be discharged.

The conviction is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Special Agent-In-Charge, Vernesa Jones-Allen; Special Agents of the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, under the direction of Special Agent-In-Charge Neal R. Marzloff; and Investigators of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Police, BECI, under the direction of Captain Frank Lauricella. Additional assistance was provided by the New York State Department of Labor, Asbestos Control Bureau and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.