United State
&EPA
Environmental Crimes Case Bulletin
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training
April 2013
This bulletin summarizes publicized investigative activity and adjudicated cases con-
ducted by OCEFT Criminal Investigation Division special agents, forensic specialists,
and legal support staff.
Defendants in this edition:
• Larry McKissick, II — Region I
• Edward K. Durst — Region 3
• Harvey Bryant Pridgen — Region 4
• Alexander Morrissette — Region 4
• Newell (Nick) Smith, Armida Di Santi, Milto Di Santi — Region 4
• Theresa Neubauer, Frank Scaccia — Region 5
• Carr William Brown, Lobdell Percy Brown, III — Region 6
• DPL Enterprises (dba Air Care Indoor Quality Specialists), Richard Papaleo, Michael
Stanovich — Region 9
EPA Bulletin April 2013 1
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DEFENDANT SUMMARY:
REGION
DEFENDANTS
CASE TYPE/STATUTES
Region 1
Larry McKissick, II
CWA/Negligent discharge of oil
into U.S. waters
Region 3
Edward K. Durst
CAA/Knowingly disposing of
regulated asbestos-containing ma-
terials
Region 4
Harvey Bryant Pridgen
CW A/Unauthorized filling of wet-
land
Alexander Morrissette
Region 4
CAA/Knowingly releasing ozone-
depleting substances into the evi-
ronment
EPA Bulletin April 2013 2
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DEFENDANT SUMMARY:
REGION
DEFENDANTS
CASE TYPE/STATUTES
Region 4
Newell (Nick) Smith, Artnida Di
Santi. Milto Pi Santi
CAA/Violating work practice stan-
dards related to asbestos
Region 5
Theresa Neubauer, Frank Scaccia
SDWA/Making false statements
about source of village drinking wa-
ter
Region 6
Carr William Brown, Lobdell
Percy Brown, III
CWA/Illegal discharges into state
waters
Region 9
PPL Enterprises (dba Air Care In-
door Quality Specialists), Richard
Papaleo, Michael Stanovich
FIFRA/Selling diluted pesticide
with forged labels
EPA Bulletin April 2013 3
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Quick Links:
Sentencings
Plea Agreements
Trials
p. 4-7
p. 8-9
p. 10- 11
Sentencings (Back to Quick Links)
Massachusetts Man Sentenced for Negligent Discharge of Oil into the Environment — On April 4,
2013, LARRY MCKISSICK, II, of Charlton, was sentenced in federal district court for the District of
Massachusetts to 12 months of probation, including four months of home detention and ordered to pay a
fine of $75,000. In addition, McKissick must submit a written public apology within two weeks of sentenc-
ing, at his own expense, to the Boston Globe Metro West Edition, or Worcester Region Edition or Worces-
ter Telegram and Gazette. He must also complete a Spill Prevention and Countermeasures training course.
Restitution was not part of McKissick's plea agreement, as authorities are pursing it through a separate
process under the Clean Water Act.
McKissick is president of Charlton Welding, which operates a trucking and plowing company in
Charlton. In October 2012 McKissick plead guilty to negligently discharging a harmful quantity of oil,
namely diesel fuel, into or upon the navigable waters of the United States. On June 11, 2010, McKissick
washed diesel fuel off of the parking lot at his business property after realizing that the fuel had been re-
leased from a storage tanker parked on the property. It is estimated that 3,200 gallons of diesel fuel were
released from the storage tank and washed into a tributary stream connected to the Quinebaug River. The
fuel spill caused impacts to the wetlands and residents of a nearby housing complex, and triggered a six-
month cleanup response by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (Mass DEP) cost-
ing more than $680,000.
The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division. The Mass DEP oversaw ex-
tensive cleanup efforts within the wetlands and its Environmental Strike Force assisted in this investigation
as well. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anton P. Giedt.
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Spill response to diesel fuel release. Photo source: Mass DEP
EPA Bulletin April 2013 4
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INFECTANT
SOLUTION
aim . DISINFECTS • DOTOBI2S
Nevada Air Duct Company and Its Owner Sentenced for Selling Diluted Pesticide with Forged La-
bels -- On April 8, 2013, DPL ENTERPRISES INC , (dba AIR CARE
INDOOR QUALITY SPECIALISTS), located in Las Vegas, Nevada,
was sentenced in federal district court for the District of Nevada to two
years of probation and ordered to pay an $80,000 fine. The company must
also establish within 30 days a plan to assure that it is operating in full com-
pliance of all environmental and occupational safety regulations. It pleaded
guilty in December 2012 to one felony count of making a materially false
statement and two misdemeanor counts of misbranding of a pesticide.
RICHARD PAPALEO, of Las Vegas, the company's president and owner, was sentenced to two
years of probation and ordered to pay a $15,000 fine. Papaleo pleaded guilty in December to one felony
I count of making a materially false statement and two misde-
meanor counts of misbranding of a pesticide. MICHAEL
STANOVICH, of Henderson, Nev., an engineer who worked at
the company since 1991, was sentenced to one year of proba-
tion. Stanovich pleaded guilty in December 2012 to two misde-
| meaner counts of misbranding of a pesticide.
According to the court records, Air Care was in the busi-
I ness of manufacturing and selling air duct cleaning equipment,
filters and various chemical compounds, and it also ran its own
| air duct cleaning and repair operation. Air Care purchased and
sold to its customers a disinfectant pesticide known as Spori-
cidin. Air Care diluted it with 10 times the amount of water, and
sold the fake Sporicidin with a forged label that claimed that it
could kill various organisms, including HIV, Avian Flu, Salmo-
nella, Staph and MRSA. Neither the diluted pesticide nor the
label was approved by the EPA as required. Air Care and Papa-
| leo had been warned by the maker of Sporicidin as far back as
1998 that the company must obtain EPA approval for its label
I and that misbranding was "illegal." Air Care admitted to selling
I approximately 6,312 gallons of the misbranded and diluted pes-
ticide between 2005 and 2010.
The government's investigation was initiated after EPA
received complaints from the maker of Sporicidin. EPA made
an undercover purchase of the fake Sporicidin sold by Air Care, and EPA's National Enforcement Investi-
gations Center laboratory in Colorado found that it was diluted with water even though the fake label made
by Air Care claimed it contained the original strength of the active ingredient. When federal agents from
the FBI and from EPA's Criminal Investigations Division questioned Papaleo about whether his company
was selling the diluted chemical, he denied it.
EPA regulates pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, which
makes it a crime to manufacture a pesticide in the United States without first being registered with the EPA
and obtaining from the EPA a manufacturer establishment number. Approved labels must be affixed to
any container of the pesticide that is distributed or sold. A pesticide is deemed "misbranded" if among
other things the labeling is false or misleading. Misbranding pesticides is a misdemeanor offense.
The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division with assistance from the
FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn C. Newman and Richard A. Udell, a
Senior Trial Attorney with the Environmental Crimes Section of the U.S. Department of Justice.
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EPA Bulletin April 2013 5
Binder containing the recipe for counterfeit
Sporicidin (top) and the recipe from the
binder (bottom)
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North Carolina Man Sentenced for Unauthorized Filling of Wetland — On April 10, 2013, HAR-
VEY BRYANT PRIDGEN, of Nashville, North Carolina, was sentenced in federal district court for the
Eastern District of North Carolina to six months in prison followed by one year of supervised release that
includes six months home confinement
with electronic monitoring. He was also
fined $300,000. As part of his plea
agreement, Pridgen made an $11,367
payment to the North Carolina Ecologi-
cal System Enhancement Program -
Wetlands Restoration Fund. Pridgen
was charged on September 5, 2012, with
unauthorized fill of wetlands. He pled
guilty to the charge on September 6.
According to the evidence, an
investigation was initiated into the illegal
dumping of petroleum-contaminated soil
in a protected wetland area in Jones
County, North Carolina. It was learned
that the soil was a product of an environ-
mental clean-up project on Marine Corp
Air Station New River and that in March 2010 the Marine Corps had contracted with Osage of Virginia
Inc. to conduct environmental remediation services. Osage, in turn, contracted with P&F Service Inc. to
haul contaminated soil from the excavation site and ensure its proper disposal. Pridgen was the owner of
P&F.
In April 2010, the manager of an area of farmland contracted Pridgen to deliver soil to the farm to
fill a low-lying area. In April 2010 to May 2010, an estimated 50 to 60 trucks loaded with contaminated
soil from the March Corps project were lumped on the property. The contaminated soil was then pushed
by bulldozers into a protected wetlands area on the farm. In mid-May 2010, a site inspection of the farm
was performed and it was confirmed that the soil dumped was contaminated.
The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division, the North Carolina State Bu-
reau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Inspector General, the North Caro-
lina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources, the Naval Criminal Investigations Service, and
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Banumathi Rangarajan.
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Contaminated soil dumped in wetlands and stream by Pridgen
Air Conditioner Thief Sentenced to Six-and-a-half years in Federal Prison for Damaging Environ-
ment - On April 17, 2013, ALEXANDER MORRISSETTE, of Monroe, Georgia, was sentenced in fed-
eral district court for the Middle District of Georgia to 78 months in federal prison for knowingly releasing
ozone-depleting substances into the environment. There is no parole in the federal system and the term of
imprisonment is to be followed by three years of supervised release. Morrissette was also ordered to make
restitution of $178,846, the amount of money needed to repair several commercial air conditioners illegally
harvested for scrap metal. Randall Scott Wimpey, a co-defendant, of Snellville, Georgia, was previously
sentenced to 15 months in federal prison. The case was investigated by the Special Agents of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency and the Monroe Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United
States Attorney Daniel E. Bennett.
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EPA Bulletin April 2013 6
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Louisiana Oil Company Technician Sentenced for Illegal Discharges into State Waters - On April 16,
2013, CARR WILLIAM BROWN, a field technician for T&F Oil Company, pled guilty in a state court in
Louisiana to illegal discharges of pollutants into state waters in Louisiana, a violation of a provision of the
Louisiana Pollution Discharge Elimination System. He was sentenced to three years of probation and given
a $5,000 criminal fine.
In October 2011, Carr William Brown, along
with his brother, LOBDELL PERCY BROWN, III,
owner of T&F Oil Company, were indicted for two
willful and illegal discharges of oil and chlorides into
the waters of the state, along with five additional
spills that went unreported from sites located in the
Little Chenier oilfield in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.
Carr Brown dumped oilfield wastes from a produc-
tion facility owned and operated by T&F Oil into Lit-
tle Chenier. The waste contained oil and produced
water.
On December 11, 2012, Lobdell Brown pled
guilty to six misdemeanor violations. Pursuant to the
terms of the plea agreement, Lobdell Brown received
a deferred sentence of six years probation, paid a
Oil pooled around T &F storage tanks
criminal fine of $15,000, restitution of $50,000, and the cost of investigation by the Louisiana Department
of Environmental Quality of $11,080.
The prosecution is a result of the investigation conducted by the Louisiana Department of Environ-
mental Quality's Criminal Investigation Division and the Louisiana Environmental Crimes Task Force. The
case was prosecuted by the Louisiana Attorney General's office.
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Oil contaminated waters of the State
EPA Bulletin April 2013 7
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Plea Agreements (Back to Quick Links)
Tennessee Salvage Company Owners and Operators Plead Guilty to Conspiring to Violate Clean
Act ~ On April 18, 2013, three owners and operators
of a Tennessee salvage and demolition company,
A&E Salvage, Inc., pleaded guilty in federal district
court for the Eastern District of Tennessee for con-
spiring to violate the Clean Air Act.
NEWELL (a.k.a., NICK) SMITH, AR-
MIDA DI SANTI, and MILTO DI SANTI pleaded
guilty to one criminal felony count for conspiring to
violate the Clean Air Act's "work practice stan-
dards" salient to the proper wetting, stripping, bag-
ging, and disposal of asbestos. According to the
charges, Smith and the Di Santis, along with other co
-conspirators, engaged in a multi-year scheme in
which substantial amounts of regulated asbestos con-
taining materials were improperly removed from
components of the former Liberty Fibers Plant or
were illegally left in place during demolition. Smith
and the Di Santis face up to five years in prison and
a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or
loss to the victims.
The case was investigated by EPA's Crimi-
nal Investigation Division. It is being prosecuted by
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Morris of the
U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of
Tennessee and Trial Attorney Todd W. Gleason of
the Environmental Crimes Section of the Justice De-
partment's Environment and Natural Resources Di-
vision.
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Air
Ariel photo of the former Liberty Fibers Plant
Debris piles with stripped tanks
Stripped boiler from powerhouse of the facility
EPA Bulletin April 2013 8
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Virginia Technology's CowgillHall
Former Virginia Asbestos Abatement Company Foreman Pleads Guilty to Violating Clean Air Act—
On April 22, 2013, EDWARD K. DURST, of Richmond, Va., former foreman of an asbestos company
I hired to remove asbestos-containing materials from
Virginia Tech's Cowgill Hall in 2007, pled guilty in
federal district court for the Western District of Vir-
ginia for violating the Clean Air Act. He was
charged in a five-count indictment in October 2012.
Durst pled guilty to one count of knowingly dispos-
ing of and causing the disposal of, regulated asbestos
-containing materials in violation of the Clean Air
Act and the federal regulations regarding proper
handling of asbestos. At sentencing, the maximum
possible penalty faced by the defendant is up to five
years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000.
According to evidence, Durst's former em-
ployer, an asbestos abatement company, was hired to oversee the removal and disposal of asbestos-
containing materials from Cowgill Hall on the campus of Virginia Tech in 2007. The materials were alumi-
num window frames with asbestos glazing.
Instead of properly handling, transporting and disposing of those materials in compliance with the
Clean Air Act, Durst instructed others to remove and dispose of the window frames from a designated as-
bestos waste container and load them into unlabeled vehicles. He later instructed others to transport those
materials to a metal recycling facility and kept the cash payments for the scrap aluminum. Investigation of
the case began when the president of the asbestos abatement company became aware of Durst's conduct
and contacted the Virginia Tech Police Department.
The case was investigated by the Blue Ridge Environmental Task Force, which included EPA's
Criminal Investigation Division, the Office of Inspector General United States Housing and Urban Devel-
opment, the Virginia Tech Police Department and the Christiansburg Police Department. It is being prose-
cuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney David Lastra (EPA Regional Criminal Enforcement
Counsel) and United States Attorney Jennie L.M. Waering.
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EPA Bulletin April 2013 9
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Trials (Back to Quick Links)
Illinois Village Official Convicted of Falsifying Reports to Conceal Use of Well in Drinking Water
Supply - On April 29, 2013, THERESA NEUBAUER, former water department clerk and supervisor
and currently Crestwood's police chief of the Village of Crestwood, was found guilty of all 11 counts of
making false statements by a federal
jury after a week-long trial and was con-
victed for lying repeatedly to environ-
mental regulators for more than 20
years about using a water well to sup-
plement the village's drinking water
supply from Lake Michigan. Neubauer,
of Crestwood, faces a maximum sen-
tence of five years in prison and a
$250,000 fine on each count. Sentenc-
I ing has been tentatively set for October
2. A co-defendant, FRANK SCAC-
CIA, also of Crestwood, the village's retired certified water operator, pleaded guilty on April 11 to making
false statements and is also awaiting sentencing. Neubauer concealed the village's use of its well from the
government and the citizens of Crestwood to save money, prosecutors argued to the jury. By doing so, the
village didn't have to fix its leaking water distribution system, pay the neighboring Village of Alsip more
money for water drawn from Lake Michigan, and properly monitor for contaminants that could have been
introduced to Crestwood's water supply.
The charges did not allege, and the trial did not seek to establish, that the defendants' false state-
ments in regulatory reports concealing the use of well water resulted in any harm to Crestwood's nearly
11,000 residents or to the environment, but the concealment avoided regulations requiring that Crestwood
test its commingled water supply and monitor the amount of certain contaminants.
According to the evidence at trial, since at least 1973, the substantial majority of Crestwood's drink-
ing water came from Lake Michigan and was purchased from neighboring Alsip, which, in turn, had pur-
chased the water from the city of Chicago after it was treated and tested pursuant to state and federal envi-
ronmental regulations. Since 1982, Crestwood regularly supplemented the Lake Michigan water with water
drawn from an underground aquifer through a well located on Playfield Drive, known as Well #1. Crest-
wood found it necessary to supplement the Lake Michigan water with water pumped from Well #1, in part,
because of substantial leakage in its water distribution system, which Crestwood officials failed to ade-
quately repair.
Between 1987 and 2008, Neubauer schemed with others to conceal that Crestwood was supplement-
ing its Lake Michigan water with water drawn from Well #1. She helped prepare and submit various false
reports stating that Well #1 was on standby status and no water from the well was distributed to Crest-
wood's drinking water customers, and also stating that the sole source of Crestwood's drinking water was
Lake Michigan water purchased from Alsip. The false statements were contained in annual Consumer Con-
fidence Reports (CCRs) and Monthly Operation and Chemical Analysis Reports (MORs).
The trial evidence showed that Neubauer was part of a scheme involving a small circle of trusted
village employees, including Scaccia, that were directed by Crestwood's longtime former mayor, Chester
Stranczek, who was not charged.
Under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, EPA created regulations to ensure the safety of
drinking water distributed by public water systems by requiring testing and establishing maximum contami-
EPA Bulletin April 2013 10
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nant levels for various contaminants. EPA delegated the primary responsibility for enforcement to the Illi-
nois Environmental Protection Agency, which established its own state regulations that implemented the
federal statute and regulations.
Because the City of Chicago tested and treated Lake Michigan water for contaminants, Crestwood,
like other municipalities that purchased water directly or indirectly from Chicago, was excused from
monitoring its Lake Michigan water for certain contaminants. Due to Crestwood's use of Well #1, how-
ever, the village was required to periodically monitor its drinking water for organic contaminants, inor-
ganic contaminants, and radiological contaminants beginning in the 1970s.
Crestwood was also required to
submit an Annual Water Use Audit form,
known as an LMO-2 form, to the Illinois
Department of Natural Resources and, pre-
viously, to the Illinois Department of
Transportation. This form required Crest-
wood to report the amount of water it had
drawn from Lake Michigan and from Well
#1, and to account for the amount of water
distributed and lost by its water system an-
nually. From at least 1982 to 2008, Crest-
wood officials filed LMO-2 forms that nei-
ther reported the amount of water drawn
from Well #1, nor accurately accounted for
The pump that the Village of Crestwood used to draw waterfront an
underground aquifer, which was used to supplement their drinking wa-
ter drawn from Lake Mich igan. Th is picture was taken after th e pump
was already disconnected from the well and taken out of service.
the amount of water distributed and lost by
its water system.
Scaccia was responsible for ensur-
ing that water distributed by Crestwood
met all federal and state regulations, including filing annual CCRs; obtaining the raw data that was used to
complete the MORs; transmitting raw data for the MORs to Neubauer so that she could complete them
and submit them to the IEPA; and serving as a point of contact for IEPA with respect to drinking water
compliance issues. Neubauer prepared the CCRs for signature by Stranczek, arranged for the CCRs to be
issued to Crestwood's water customers, prepared MORs for distribution to the IEPA based upon informa-
tion obtained from Scaccia, and distributed completed MORs to IEPA. All the while, Neubauer and Scac-
cia knew that water pumped from Well #1 was being distributed to the village's water customers.
The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division. It is being prosecuted by
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erika Csicsila and Timothy Chapman.
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EPA Pub. 310-N-13-004
EPA Bulletin April 2013 11
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