Environmental Crimes Case Bulletin
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training
Case Bulletin April 2012
This bulletin summarizes publicized investigative activity and adjudicated cases conducted
by OCEFT Criminal Investigation Division special agents, forensic specialists, and legal sup-
port staff.
Defendants in this edition:
• Martin S. Kimber— Region 2
• Steven Avery, Billy Avery, Sea Solutions, Inc. — Region 3
• Angel Dario Rodriguez Nunez— Region 4
• Daniel Evanoff— Region 4
• Carlos Garcia, Marcone Cooling and Heating —Region 4
• Chuck Yee Cheung—Region 4
• William Zirkle— Region 5
• Daniel Olson—Region 5
• Brown Materials Silver Refining Company, David Brown, Jerry Story—Region 6
• Kurt Mix—Region 6
• Integrated Production Services, Inc., Gabriel Henson—Region 6
• Bryan Stowe, Stowe Construction Inc., — Region 10
• Ronald Monsen—Region 10
EPA Bulletin April 2012 1
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DEFENDANT SUMMARY:
REGION
DEFENDANTS
CASE TYPE/STATUTES
Region 2
Martin S. Kimber
RCRA/Illegal hazardous waste dis-
posal/knowing endangerment
Region 3
Steven E. Avery, Billy J. Avery,
Sea Solutions, Inc.
CWA et al/Knowing illegal dis-
charge, discharging without a permit
Region 4
Angel Dario Rodriguez Nunez
Plea Agreement/CAA-False state-
ments on auto emissions
Region 4
Daniel Evanoff
Plea Agreement/CAA-conspiracy
Region 4
Carlos Garcia, Marcone Cooling
and Heating
CAA/Smuggling of HCFC-22
Region 4
Chuck Yee Cheung
CAA/Falsifying vehicle emissions
tests
EPA Bulletin April 2012 2
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DEFENDANT SUMMARY:
REGION
DEFENDANTS
CASE TYPE/STATUTES
Region 5
William Zirkle
CWA/Negligent discharge
Region 5
Daniel Olson
Plea Agreement/CWA-Failing to file
and falsifying reports
Region 6
Brown Materials Silver Refining
Company, David Brown, Jerry
Story
Sentencing RCRA & Tax Evasion
Region 6
Kurt Mix
CW A/Illegally destroying evidence
Region 6
Integrated Production Services,
Inc., Gabriel Henson
CW A/Improper handling of hazard-
ous wastes
Region 10
Bryan Stowe, Stowe Construction
Inc.
CWA/Illegally violating permit re-
quirements, falsifying reports
Region 10
Ronald Monsen
CWA/Unpermitted discharge into
U.S. waters, destroying evidence
EPA Bulletin April 2012 3
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Quick Links:
• p. 4 - 5
• p. 6 - 10
• p. 11 - 12
(Back to Quick Links)
Two Oklahoma Men Sentenced to Prison for RCRA Violations and Tax Evasion
On April 10, 2012, the owner and the manager of BROWN MA-
TERIALS SILVER REFINING COMPANY were sentenced to
prison following their guilty pleas to RCRA Storage Without a |
Permit and related Tax Evasion. Specifically, JERRY WAYNE
STORY, manager of Brown Materials, was sentenced to one year
and one day in federal prison, one year supervised release follow-
ing his incarceration, and a $10,000 fine. Story was not required
to pay restitution because he had already voluntarily paid back
taxes in the amount of $76,312. DAVID RICHARD
("RICKY") BROWN, owner of Brown Materials, was sentenced
to eighteen months in prison, a $28,284 fine, and one year super- Each 700_gaUon vatprocessed 1,000pounds of
vised release following his incarceration. An illegal discharge media (chopped up lithographic & photographic
into a sewer manhole in Shawnee, Oklahoma, was reported by a •'imneg"frl™f'an xmer°SraP ic (x-ray, ,
MRI) negatives) in 2-3 Days.
witness, who provided a detailed description of a pickup truck
and its driver. Within one week after the initial report of dumping into the sewer, all the microorganisms in
%T\1 the Shawnee water treatment plant's #1 and #2 clarifiers had died.
•™* Surveillance of Brown Materials' facility revealed the truck de-
scribed by the witness from the incident. It had a hole cut in the
cargo bed to facilitate discharges from a tank concealed in the
cargo bed beneath a camper style cover. A former employee of
Brown Materials described the cyanide electroplating silver recov-
ery process used by Brown Materials to recover silver from waste
x-ray and photo negatives, and confessed his own involvement in
illegal disposals of cyanide electroplating solution at self-service
car washes and a™
Bed of pickup used for clandestine disposals of mann°le at nls own
waste cyanide solution. Arrow indicates hole residence. Evidence
for dumps from a concealed tank, without showed that the
exiting truck.
amount of hazardous
waste generated from 2003-2009 was over 150,000 gallons. Re-
cords of legitimate disposal for those 150,000 gallons of hazard-
ous waste did not exist. On November 22, 2011, Ricky Brown,
entered a plea of guilty to RCRA storage. Brown's codefendant,
Jerry Wayne Story, pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false
tax return involving money he received during his work with
Brown Materials related to the illegal handling of hazardous
waste generated by the company's silver recovery operations.
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Suspects installed 2-1,300 gallon waste holding
tanks in an 18-Wheeler trailer. Tie-down straps
indicate trailer was moved, with full tanks, to a
disposal site.
EPA Bulletin April 2012 4
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North Carolina Man Sentenced to Prison for Criminal Violations of the Clean Air Act — On April 25,
CHUCK YEE CHEUNG was sentenced to five months prison, five months
home confinement, and three years supervised release. Cheung was one of
five defendants convicted in this case. Three of the defendants, STEPHEN
CRAIG DICKINSON, ALEXANDER CHRISTIAN EDWARDS, and JIN
SUNG CHANG, were employed by a car dealership in Charlotte. In or about
2010, these defendants purchased a device used to bypass the ordinary on-
board diagnostics system used in state emissions inspections. The defendants
used the device to provide false passing results for vehicles that had their
"check engine" light on, indicating they were discharging emissions at a
OBDII Simulator used by in-
spectors to bypass emission
testing
higher rate than permitted by law, an illegal activity known as "clean scanning." In exchange for the false
passing results, the defendants charged more than the standard fee for the emissions inspections. The other
two defendants, THANH LONG QUOC NGUYEN and Cheung were employed at a used car lot also in
Charlotte, and communicated via text messages with one of the dealership employees asking him to "clean
scan" vehicles for them. In addition, when investigators interviewed Chang on three separate occasions he
provided false material statements. On March 26, 2012, Edwards was sentenced to 60 days in prison, four
months home confinement, and two years supervised release. On March 30, 2012, Dickinson was sen-
tenced to two years probation and a $1000 fine.
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Natural Gas and Oil Drilling Company and Supervisor Sentenced in Oklahoma for Negligent Violation
of Clean Water Act — On April 26, 2012, INTEGRATED PRO-
DUCTION SERVICES, INC. (IPS), a Houston-based natural gas
and oil drilling contractor, was sentenced in federal court in Musko-
gee, Okla., to pay a criminal fine of $140,000 for violations of the
Clean Water Act at its operation in Atoka County, Okla. GABRIEL
HENSON, a crew supervisor for IPS, was sentenced to two years
probation and a fine of $2,500. In May 2007, IPS was performing
fracture acidizing at the Pettigrew 18-3H well site in Atoka County,
where Henson was a crew supervisor. IPS's operations included us-
ing hydrochloric acid to penetrate though bedrock and thousands of Mist over the well pad caused by the spilled
feet of substrata. On May 24, 2007, a tank leaked an estimated 400-
700 gallons of hydrochloric acid onto the earthen pad surface of the well site. The earthen pad was also
flooded with water from recent heavy rainfall. In order to remove the rainwater from the well site, Henson
drove a pickup truck owned by IPS through an earthen berm, caus-
ing the rainwater contaminated with hydrochloric acid to flow off
the well pad and down into Dry Creek, a tributary of Boggy Creek, a
water of the United States under the Clean Water Act. Henson and
IPS both pleaded guilty to a negligent violation of the Clean Water
Act, on July 10, 2011, and Sept. 21, 2011, respectively. IPS was
also sentenced to a community service payment of $22,000 to the
Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation for ecological stud-
ies and remediation of Boggy Creek, located in the Eastern District
of Oklahoma. IPS will serve a two-year period of probation, during
Emergency response workers cleaning up the which h win be required to implement and perform an Environ-
acid that leaked from the 500-barrel "Frac
Tank" (yellow, with steps). Two orange tank mental Compliance Program at a cost of no less than $38,000 to
trailers (left and center back) are "Sand train IPS employees regarding proper hazardous waste handling and
Cans" containing proppant mixed with acid .,, ,
and water, pumped into selected formations. SPlU reSP°nSe Procedures.
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^ EPA Bulletin April 2012 5
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Plea Agreements (Back to Quick Links)
JL French baghouse stack. Photograph:
Kentucky Division for Air Quality.
Ex-J.L. French Manager Pleads Guilty to Clean Air Act violations — On April 3, 2012, DANIEL
EVANOFF, the North American Alloy manager of automotive cast-
ing company J.L. French, pleaded guilty to conspiring with employ-
ees in the company's Glasgow, Kentucky, plant to tamper with
monitoring devices to avoid environmental regulations. The con-
spiracy, which lasted from 2007 to November 2009, was undertaken
to get around emissions testing that established that the Glasgow
plant could not produce more than 80 ladles per day. At the Glas-
gow plant, scrap aluminum is melted in furnaces, and the molten
product is transferred in ladles to the die-casting operation, where it
is cast into auto parts. The furnaces that melt the aluminum produce
potentially harmful emissions of air pollutants, such as benzene, for-
maldehyde, chlorine and hydrogen chloride. J.L. French was required to report its daily aluminum output to
EPA. Due to a production increase in 2009, Evanoff directed employees not to cease production when the
80 ladle limit was reached and not to record over 80 ladles produced on documents required to be main-
tained by EPA regulations governing secondary aluminum production. In addition, Evanoff directed others
to install a temperature resistor on air pollution control
equipment at the plant that would create a false temperature
reading, making it appear as though the equipment was op-
erating properly while it was actually operating at a tem-
perature exceeding limits allowed by emissions testing.
Evanoff directed employees to install the temperature resis-
tor in 2007 and would later instruct that the resistor be re-
moved in order to prevent its discovery by inspectors from
the Kentucky Division of Air Quality.
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JL French Reverb Furnace
Emissions Inspector Pleads Guilty to Falsely Passing Vehicle Inspections — On April 9, 2012, ANGEL
DARK) RODRIGUEZ NUNEZ , of Durham, North Carolina, pled guilty to conspiring to violate the Clean
Air Act and to making a material false statement, representation, or certification. According to the criminal
information filed on March 6, 2012, Nunez worked at Express Auto Sales and Services and Car Care Ex-
press Auto Sales and Services, both in Durham, as a licensed North Carolina emissions inspector. From May
2009 to July 2010, Nunez conspired with others to pass vehicles that would normally have failed the emis-
sions inspection in exchange for $150 to $225 per car. The information further alleges that Nunez and his co
-conspirators would enter the vehicle identification number either manually or by scanning. A surrogate ve-
hicle, usually one manufactured between 1996 and 1999 that would not
generate a vehicle identification number when connected to the analyzer,
would be selected. Using the surrogate vehicle, an emissions report would
be generated for the customer's vehicle. During this period 817 vehicles
passed the false inspection. Of those 817, Nunez falsely tested 353. Each
day emissions inspection reports are electronically transferred to the North
Carolina Office of Information and Technology Services in Raleigh. EPA
requires the state to conduct vehicle emissions testing in certain areas be-
cause the area exceed national standard for carbon monoxide and ozone.
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EPA Bulletin April 2012 6
Express Auto Sales and Service lo-
cated in Durham, NC
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Former Indiana Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent Pleads Guilty to Criminal CWA Viola-
tions — On April 5, 2012, DANIEL OLSON, the
former superintendent of the J.B. Gifford Waste-
water Treatment Plant in Michigan City, Indiana,
pled guilty to three felony violations of the Clean
Water Act by admitting to knowingly failing to
file, and falsifying reports that concealed viola-
tions of the CWA. As a result of the felony con-
viction, Olson could be sentenced up to two years
in prison and fined up to $250,000 for each count.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Man-
agement found that sanitary sewer overflows of
raw sewage into Trail Creek have occurred without J.B. Gifford Wastewater Treatment Plant Secondary Clarifiers
report or permanent repair. According to EPA Re-
gion 5 personnel, there have been a significant number of the Washington Park beach closures due to high
bacteria. Washington Park beach is located adjacent to where Trail Creek enters Lake Michigan.
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Ship Scrapping Company and Owners Plead Guilty to Clean Water Act and other Environment
Crimes — On April 12, 2012, STEVEN E. AVERY, BILLY J. AVERY, and the corporation SEA SOLU-
TIONS, INC., all pleaded guilty in Norfolk, Virginia, federal court to various environmental crimes stem-
ming from their activities in the ship scrapping business. The company pled guilty to one felony CWA count
for knowingly discharging pollutants without a permit. They will pay a yet to be determined fine and reim-
burse the U.S. Coast Guard $66,402 for clean-up costs resulting from illegal discharges to the Elizabeth River
which took place in October 2010. Billy and Steven Avery pled guilty to one misdemeanor Refuse Act count
and to a binding sentencing recommendation of no less than 30 days incarceration. The three defendants will
all be sentenced on July 12, 2012. Sea Solutions, Inc., also faces up to a $500,000 fine and five years of pro-
bation. In February 2010, Sea Solutions, Inc., purchased a vessel known as M/V Snow Bird for the purpose of
scrapping it, with the knowledge that it contained quantities of waste petroleum products and other pollut-
ants. Despite knowing that these waste prod-
ucts were onboard the M/V Snow Bird and
needed to be removed, the defendants com-
menced scrapping operations with the pollut-
ants onboard. Over the course of several
months, witnesses complained of pollutants
emanating from the M/V Snow Bird. In Octo-
ber of 2010, the defendants caused a major spill
of oil, oily water, and other pollutants from the
M/V Snow Bird into the Elizabeth River. The
cleanup operation removed several thousand
gallons of oily waste from the Elizabeth River
and the shoreline, at the cost to the United
States of over $66,000. The Elizabeth River is
one of EPA Region 3's Healthy Water Priori- Boom is placed around the MWSnow Bird after an oil leak is discov-
ties ered on the south branch of the Elizabeth River on October 6, 2010.
„ Photograph: U.S. Coast Guard
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EPA Bulletin April 2012 7
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Overview ofStowe Construction Site with discharge points
Turbid Water
rom Stowe Sit
Clear Water in
Tributary
State of Washington Developer Pleads Guilty to Criminal Clean Water Act Violation
On April 12, 2012, Sumner, Washington developer
BRYAN STOWE, and his construction company
STOWE CONSTRUCTION INC., pled guilty to
felony violations of the Clean Water Act. The
charges filed against Stowe and Stowe Construction
Inc. are the first storm water pollution criminal
charges brought in Western Washington. Under the
terms of the plea agreements, Stowe and Stowe Con-
struction will pay $650,000 in criminal fines and
will make a $100,000 payment to the National Fish
and Wildlife Foundation for environmental projects
targeting resources impacted by the illegal dis-l
charges. Stowe could be sentenced to up to three
years in prison. Both Stowe and Stowe Construction
will be subject to a court-imposed storm water com-
pliance plan for all current and future development
sites. In the plea agreements, they admit to know-
ingly violating the Construction General Storm Wa-
ter Permit for a project known as the Rainier Park off
Industry, located on West Valley Highway in Sum-
ner, Washington. The permit required Stowe Con-
struction to prepare and implement a plan to prevent Turbid waterfi°m Stowe C°™*^ion site entering uPstream
the discharge of pollutants through use site improve-
ments and practices designed to minimize and eliminate the migration of pollutants from the site to nearby
waters. In the plea agreement, Stowe admits to failing to install and implement adequate improvements and
practices between 2007 and 2011. In addition, the plea agree-
i ments acknowledge that Stowe falsified weekly site inspection
reports and discharge sampling reports intended to assist regula-
: tors in assessing the adequacy of site improvement and prac-
i tices. State and federal regulators monitoring the West Valley
Highway site issued several administrative compliance orders in
an unsuccessful effort to bring Stowe and the company into
compliance. Permit violations contributed to two major land-
slides at the project site in the winter of 2011, which forced clo-
sure of the West
Valley Highway.
Storm water has
been recognized as
one of the biggest threats to the health of Puget Sound. Rain-
water runoff from developed properties and construction sites
contribute a significant amount of pollutants to the wetlands,
streams, and rivers that comprise watersheds feeding into Puget
Sound. Runoff from construction sites in particular can com-
promise the essential filtering functions of wetlands when de-
velopers fail to implement and maintain required measures to Landslide caused by Stowe which forced the clo-
minimize and prevent pollutants from leaving the site. sure °fthe West Valley Highway
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EPA Bulletin April 2012
Neglected silt fence at Stowe site resulting in
heavily polluted discharges
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Captain pleads guilty to CWA violations after running tugboat aground on reef — On April 3, 2012,
I Captain RONALD MONSEN pled
guilty to a one count CWA charge for his
part in the unpermitted discharge of oil
to waters of the United States. On De-
cember 23, 2009, the 136-foot tugboat
Pathfinder, a vessel owned and operated
by the Crowley Maritime Corporation,
ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince Wil-
liam Sound, Alaska. One of the Path-
\ finder's fuel tanks was ruptured at the
time of its grounding and an estimated
16,140 gallons of diesel fuel was released
into Prince William Sound when the cap-
tain of the vessel powered it off the reef.
A joint investigation into this matter by
Oil spill containment booms surround 'Pathfinder' following itspre-
Ch ristmas groun ding. Ph otograph: Mercator Media
the United States Coast Guard Investigative Service and the EPA-CID Anchorage resident office deter-
mined that Monsen did not know the exact location of the vessel at the time it received notification from the
Ship Escort Response Vessel System (SERVS) that the Pathfinder was relieved of its ice patrol duties. In-
vestigation determined that Monsen deleted waypoints on the Global Positioning System device that the
vessel was using to chart its course in anticipation of being relieved of ice patrol duties. Monsen changed
the course of the vessel without following proper bridge protocol, engaged the vessel's autopilot, and set the
engines at full speed ahead. Monsen's actions were directly responsible for the Pathfinder's grounding on
Bligh Reef. In addition, Monsen directed the destruction of evidence when he gave subordinates orders to
erase notations on the overlay for the vessel's navigational track after being directed by United States Coast
Guard Marine Casualty Inspectors not to do so.
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t
.
The tug 'Pathfinder' moored in Valdez after grounding.
Photograph: US Coast Guard
EPA Bulletin April 2012 9
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Company Official Pleads Guilty to Illegally Smuggling and Distributing Refrigerants in United States
On April 11, 2012, CARLOS GARCIA, vice-president of I
global sales for MARCONE COOLING AND HEAT-
ING, pled guilty in federal district court for the Southern
District of Florida to knowingly receiving, buying, selling
and facilitating the transportation, concealment and sale of
ozone-depleting HCFC-22. HCFC-22 was a widely used;
residential refrigerant for heat pumps and a/c systems; it I
has been determined to harm the ozone layer and is being
phased out. The HCFC-22 that Marcone illegally imported
had a fair market value of more than $500,000. Marcone [
purchased and distributed HCFC-22 (also known as R-22) I
from companies that import the R-22 as a common business Container shipped by Kroy Corporation (a convicted
practice, without EPA-required consumption allowances, defendant in a separate investigation) where the R-22
. ~~~~ was hidden behind some legal refrigerant. The R-22
These purchases began in mid-2007, and the most recent was subsequently shipped to Marcone during a moni-
transaction took place in May 2009. Marcone claims to be tared delivery as part of a undercover operation ini-
"the nation's largest authorized source for all makes, brands
and models of appliance parts and cooling and heating
equipment." He pled guilty on March 18, 2010, to illegally
smuggling approximately 100,898 kilograms of HCFC-22
into the U.S., contrary to the Clean Air Act. Marcone was
sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay a
$500,000 criminal fine; he was also ordered to pay a
$400,000 community service payment and forfeit to the
United States $190,534.70 in illegal proceeds.
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tially targeted at Kroy.
EPA Special Agents tunneled down the left side of the
container and discovered the R-22 while still at the
Port. This container was delivered to Marcone. Gar-
cia claimed he never purchased imported refrigerant
and this was an essential part of the evidence to show
the refrigerant they received was indeed Chinese.
Entire contents of one of the three containers that Kroy had im-
ported and had promised the R-22 portion to Marcone. EPA Spe-
cial Agents did not allow the third container to be delivered and
seized it instead.
One of the Chinese R-22 cylinders that ended up at
Marcone.
EPA Bulletin April 2012 10
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Indictments/Informations (Back to Quick Links)
Ohio Manufacturing Plant Worker Charged With Negligent Wastewater Discharge — On April 17,
2012, WILLIAM ZIRKLE was charged in federal
district court for the Northern District of Ohio with
negligently failing to ensure that wastewater was
pretreated prior to its discharge into the city of De-
fiance, Ohio, sewer system. The charge is a misde-
meanor in violation of the Clean Water Act. It is
alleged that Zirkle worked at the former SK Hand
Tool Corporation manufacturing facility in Defi-
ance. That facility discharged wastewater into the
city's sewer system and was
considered an industrial user.
Prior to discharging wastewa-
ter from the facility into the
sewer system, the wastewater
was processed using a pre-
Flow entering the Defiance WWTP Grit Building. This is
the location where fluorescent yellow wastewater was first
observed entering the plant.
treatment system. It is alleged that on April 21, 2008, there was an accident and ap-
proximately 210 gallons of chrome plating solution spilled into a cement pit near the
pretreatment system. When Zirkle became aware of the spill, he treated it by adding
chemicals and attempting to treat it in the pretreatment system instead of pumping the
spilled chrome solution from the pit into a holding tank for proper disposal. It is
charged that because of Zirkle's negligence, improperly treated wastewater was dis-
charged into the sewer system. The high concentration chrome wastewater caused
damage to the treatment processes at the Defiance sewage treatment plant.
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I I
SKHandtool waste-
water discharge on
April 21, 2008. Sam-
ples revealed high
concentrations of
chrome.
EPA Special Agents Arrest New York Man for Alleged Hazardous Waste, Including Knowing Endan-
germent, Violations— On April 25, MARTIN S. KIMBER, of Ruby, New York was arrested after being
charged with the illegal disposal of a hazardous waste in a manner posing a danger of death or serious bodily
injury to others (also referred to as "knowing endangerment"), and with the illegal storage and disposal of
hazardous waste without a permit. The complaint alleges that on March 2, 2012, Kimber was observed on
hospital video surveillance cameras placing a substance on items throughout the Albany Medical Center
cafeteria—where mercury was subsequently found — including on food consumed by at least one patron, and
on heating elements where the mercury could vaporize and be inhaled. The person who ate the contaminated
food was subsequently treated in the hospital's emergency room. The complaint alleges that a search warrant
executed at Kimber's house and automobile resulted in the seizure of two jars of mercury. The complaint
further alleges that approximately 21 guns were removed from Kimber's residence. Literature reflecting
sympathy for domestic terrorism (The Turner Diaries) was observed during the search, which states on the
cover page, "THIS BOOK CONTAINS RACIST PROPAGANDA" and "THE FBI SAID IT WAS THE
BLUEPRINT FOR THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING." Searching officers further observed a Nazi
swastika on a wall of Kimber's home. Finally, the complaint alleges that mercury was previously deposited
in numerous locations throughout the Albany Medical Center by then unknown persons on March 28, 2011,
April 11,2011 and June 23, 2011.
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EPA Bulletin April 2012 11
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Former BP Engineer Arrested for Obstruction of Justice in Connection with the Deepwater Horizon
Criminal Investigation — On May 2, 2012,
KURT MIX, a former BP Drilling and Comple-
tion Project Engineer was indicted by a Grand
Jury in the Eastern District of Louisiana on 2
counts of Obstruction of Justice for deleting
electronic flow rate related records relevant to
the government investigation into the Deepwater
Horizon disaster. The indictment follows Mix's
arrest on April 24, 2012, for the same charges. It
is the first criminal charge to result from the
Deepwater Horizon Task Force investigation.
According to the indictment, on April 20,
2010 the Deepwater Horizon rig experienced an
uncontrolled blowout and related explosions
while finishing the Macondo well. The catastro- Fire boat response crews battie the blazing remnants of the offshore
phe killed 11 men on board and resulted in the oil rig Deepwater Horizon on April 21,2010.
largest environmental disaster in U.S. history. Photograph: U.S. Coast Guard
According to court documents, Mix was a drilling and completions project engineer for BP. Following the
blowout, Mix worked on internal BP efforts to estimate the amount of oil leaking from the well and was in-
volved in various efforts to stop the leak. Those efforts included, among others, Top Kill, the failed BP effort
to pump heavy mud into the blown out wellhead to try to stop the oil flow. BP sent numerous notices to Mix
requiring him to retain all information concerning Macondo, including his text messages. On or about Octo-
ber 4, 2010, after Mix learned that his electronic files were to be collected by a vendor working for BP's law-
yers, Mix allegedly deleted on his iPhone a text string containing more than 200 text messages with a BP su-
pervisor. The deleted texts, some of which were recovered forensically, included sensitive internal BP infor-
mation collected in real-time as the Top Kill operation was occurring, which indicated that Top Kill was fail-
ing. Court documents allege that, among other things, Mix deleted a text he had sent on the evening of May
26, 2010, at the end of the first day of Top Kill. In the text, Mix stated, among other things, "Too much
flowrate - over 15,000." Before Top Kill commenced, Mix and other engineers had concluded internally that
Top Kill was unlikely to succeed if the flow rate was greater than 15,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD). At
the time, BP's public estimate of the flow rate was 5,000 BOPD - three times lower than the minimum flow
rate indicated in Mix's text. In addition, on or about Aug. 19, 2011, after learning that his iPhone was about to
be imaged by a vendor working for BP's outside counsel, Mix also allegedly deleted a text string containing
^ more than 100 text messages with a BP contractor
with whom Mix had worked on various issues con-
cerning how much oil was flowing from the
Macondo well after the blowout. By the time Mix
deleted those texts, he had received numerous legal
hold notices requiring him to preserve such data and
~ had been communicating with a criminal defense
lawyer in connection with the pending grand jury
"' investigation of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. If
- convicted, Mix faces a maximum penalty of 20 years
in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 as to each
count.
#*>:
r*r
vJ
A heavily oiled Pelican in the waters off Louisiana which were
laden with oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill.
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EPA Pub. 310-N-12-003
EPA Bulletin April 2012 12
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