u
Environmental Crimes
Case Bulletin
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training
This bulletin summarizes publicized investigative activity and
adjudicated cases conducted by OCEFT Criminal Investigation
Division special agents, forensic specialists, and legal support staff.
July 2014
In This Edition:
Quick Links
Defendant Summary
Sentencing
Plea Agreements
• Thomas H. Faria — Region 1
• Benjamin Franklin Pass, P&W Waste Oil Services, Inc.
— Region 4
• Ryan Thomas — Region 6
• Tri State Environmental Group, Aftermath Cleanup &
Remediation Services, LLC, James Joseph Duran —
Region 8
• Brent Powell — Region 8
• Nathan Stoliar—Region 9
• Herman Cortez Villasenor (Cortez) —Region 9
• Jose Luis Garcia Villa (Garcia) —Region 9
• Jorge Luquin —Region 9
&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA Pub. 310-N-14-007
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Defendant Summary
Region
Defendants
Case Type/Status
Region 1
Thomas H. Faria
CWA/lllegal discharging industrial wastewater into
POTW
Region 4
Benjamin Franklin Pass, P&W
Waste Oil Services, Inc.
CWA/Unlawful handling of PCB-contaminated oil, tax
violations, and false statements
Region 6
Ryan Thomas
RCRA/Falsifying shipping documents
Region 8
Tri State Environmental Group,
Aftermath Cleanup & Remedia-
CAA/lmproper disposal of asbestos-containing waste
material
tion Services, LLC, James Joseph
Duran
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EPA Bulletin-July 2014
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Defendant Summary
Region
Defendants
Case Type/Status
Region 8
Brent Powell
CWA/Damaging a wetland
Region 9
Nathan Stoliar
CAA/False Statements, Conspiracy, Wire Fraud
Region 9
Hernan Cortez Villasenor (Cortez)
FIFRA/Distribution of unregistered pesticides; Manu-
facture, distribution and possession of marijuana
Region 9
Jose Luis Garcia Villa (Garcia)
FIFRA/Pesticides
Region 9
Jorge Luquin
CWA/Unlawful discharge of pollutants
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EPA Bulletin-July 2014
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Sentencings
Two Colorado Companies and Their Owner Sentenced for Improper Asbestos Disposal - On July 8, 2014, TRI
STATE ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP and AFTERMATH CLEANUP & REMEDIATION SERVICES, LLC, were
sentenced to pay fines totaling $1 million for failing to properly dispose of asbestos containing waste material
(ACWM). The total fine will be split evenly between the two asbestos abatement disposal companies. The
owner of the companies, JAMES JOSEPH DURAN, and the companies were sentenced after all three plead
guilty to the crime of causing and contributing to a hazardous substance incident which is a felony under
Colorado law. Duran was also sentenced to 500 hours of community service and six years of probation and
was ordered to pay $2,538 in restitution.
Duran and his companies also
violated Colorado Department of Public
Health and Environment's (CDPHE)
regulations regarding illegal storage of
ACWM.
Beginning in 2009, Duran began
abandoning ACWM without following the
proper safety procedures which caused a
series of hazardous substance incidents.
Duran and his companies also knowingly
violated emissions regulations of the
Colorado Air Quality Control Commission.
Finally, Duran, Aftermath and Tri State
knowingly concealed violations from law
Container filled with asbestos material from a Greeley Colorado project enforcement and CDPHE officials.
was ultimately transported to an authorized disposal facility. The case was investigated by EPA's
Criminal Investigation Division, the
Environmental Crimes Unit of the Colorado
Attorney General's Office, and the CDPHE, all members of the Colorado Environmental Task Force. It was
prosecuted by the Colorado Attorney General's office.
Back to Defendant Summary
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EPA Bulletin-July 2014
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Sentencings
PCB HAZA
North Carolina Recycling Business and Owner Sentenced for Unlawful Handling of PCB-Contaminated Oil.
Tax Violations, and False Statements --On July 16, 2014, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN PASS, and P&W WASTE OIL
SERVICES, INC., (P&W) of Leland, N.C., was sentenced to 42 months in prison and ordered to pay
restitution of more than $21 million for clean-up costs associated with the environmental contamination at
his business and an additional $539,000 to the Internal Revenue Service for federal income taxes he failed to
pay between 2002 and 2011.
The court also ordered P&W Waste Oil
Services, Inc. (P&W) to pay restitution of more
than $21 million for losses incurred by Colonial
CirPTDIPAl TDAMCCnDMCDC 30il and lnternational RaPer as a result of tne
tLI 1 defendants' mishandling of used oil
CONTAIN I contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls
IN FVFNT flF IFAIf FID COIN 5 (PCB) that led to widespread contamination and
MflTirv ril § millions of dollars in clean-up costs. P&W was
-NVIRONMENTAL OR |a|s° °rdered to serve a five-vear term °f
probation and to take remedial action to address
the environmental contamination at its facility
and other leased property in eastern North
Carolina.
Pass owned and operated P&W, which
collected, processed and marketed used oil from
automotive service stations, transformer repair
companies and marinas. P&W was not authorized to handle or store used oil containing more than two parts
per million (ppm) of PCBs, man-made organic chemicals that are known carcinogens. PCBs were commonly
used in thermal insulation in electrical transformers and capacitors from 1929 to 1979, when Congress
banned their production.
Law enforcement also learned that in 2009 and again in
2010, Pass and P&W falsely certified that its employees had
taken requisite training on the handling of hazardous wastes
and that, between 2002 through 2011, Pass failed to pay his
federal income taxes despite having the ability to pay.
The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation I
Division, the IRS's Office of Criminal Investigations, and the U.S. ^
Coast Guard's Criminal Investigative Services. It was prosecuted
by Assistant U.S. Attorney Banumathi Rangarajan of the Eastern
District of North Carolina and Trial Attorney Shennie Patel of the
Justice Department's Environmental Crimes Section of the
nun fiLlllHL UlT
SAFETY PERSONNEL WHO WILL
nmr" CLEAN-UP ACTIVITY
Sign at P&W Waste Oil Services, Inc. located next to the transformers
where the PCB oil was removed.
A section of the tank farm at P&W Waste
Oil Services, Inc.
Environment and Natural Resources Division who are the prosecutors in charge of the case. Assistant U.S.
Attorney Norman Acker and the Financial Litigation Unit provided significant support to the prosecution
team.
Back to Defendant Summary
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EPA Bulletin-July 2014
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Sentencings
Former Texas Logistics Company Manager Sentenced for Falsifying Shipping Documents -- On July 14,
2014, RYAN THOMAS, former Logistics Manager for CES Environmental Services in Houston, Texas, was
sentenced in U.S. District Court in Beaumont, Texas, to 12 months' probation, ordered to pay a $500 fine,
and serve 100 hours of community service for falsifying shipping documents related to the transportation of
hazardous materials.
Thomas produced manifests that indicated that three tanker truckloads of wastewater originated
from CES' Houston plant when in fact, they were produced and shipped from CES' Port Arthur (PACES) plant.
The PACES location was placed on a moratorium after a November 3, 2008, accident in which a CES driver
was overcome by vapors released during the offloading of wastewater. The disposal facility placed the
moratorium on all loads of waste-water from the PACES location until the cause of the accident could be
identified and new inbound load testing protocols were agreed to.
The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Department of
Transportation, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Houston Police Department, the U.S.
Department of Labor and the U.S. Coast Guard. It was prosecuted by the Department of Transportation
with assistance of Department of Justice's Environmental Crimes Section.
Back to Defendant Summary
Port Arthur Chemical and Environmental Services
CES Environmental Services
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EPA Bulletin-July 2014
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Sentencings
Montana Rancher Sentenced for Damaging Wetland on Indian Reservation - On July 9, 2014, BRENT
POWELL, a St. Ignatius, Montana-area rancher, was sentenced in federal district court for the District of
Montana to three years' probation and a $20,000 fine for violating the Clean Water Act by damaging a
wetland on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
Powell operates B.P. Cattle Company on property that
includes a wetland complex bordering Sabine Creek and
Mission Creek in Lake County, Montana, which are waters of
the United States. These wetlands also lie within the Flathead
Indian Reservation.
Through investigative interviews and a check of tribal
records, EPA's Criminal Investigation Division established that
in 2004, Powell failed to submit a Tribal Application for the
Alteration of Aquatic Land or Wetland on the Flathead
reservation, known as an 87A (ALCO), before he
performed work in wetlands along Pistol Creek. As a result of
the 2004 Clean Water Act 404 violations, the United States
Army Corps of Engineers issued Powell a cease and desist order
for the activities on Pistol Creek and Powell was required to
remediate the area.
Undeterred, in 2010, Powell again dredged several
channels on his property in an effort to drain the wetlands and
extend his agricultural land along the Sabine and Mission
Creeks. The dredged material was cast off beside the channels
The affected wetlands border both Sabine Creek
and Mission Creek, which flow into the Flathead
and remained within the wetland area. As a result of the work, River within the boundaries of the Confederated
heavy sediment was observed in the manmade channels, and Salish Kootenai Tribal reservation.
cloudy water was observed flowing into Sabine Creek from
manmade channels.
EPA-CID conducted interviews and reviewed documents that show Powell again failed to submit a
Tribal Application for the Alteration of Aquatic Land or Wetland on the Flathead reservation, before he
performed work along Sabine Creek.
In March 2010, the United States Army Corp of Engineers, EPA-CID, and Flathead tribal Shoreline
Protection Administrator participated in an on-site inspection of the disturbed wetland area; they described
the disturbance of wetland and riparian vegetation as very extensive. The disturbance of the wetland area
includes approximately seven different areas in which soil was dredged from the wetland area and side-
casted along the trenches into waters of the United States.
The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division, the Army Corps of Engineers and
the environmental specialists of the Flathead Tribe.
Back to Defendant Summary
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EPA Bulletin-July 2014
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Sentencings
Mexican Man Sentenced for Involvement in Illegal Toxic Marijuana Cultivation Operation - On July 28,
2014, JOSE LUIS GARCIA VILLA (GARCIA), of Michoacan, Mexico, was sentenced in federal district court for
the Eastern District of California to three years and 10
months in prison for his involvement in a toxic
marijuana cultivation operation in the Sequoia
National Forest. Garcia was also ordered to pay
$3,328 in restitution to the U.S. Forest Service for
damage sustained to public land and natural
resources as a result of the cultivation operation.
According to court documents, Garcia
conspired to cultivate 8,876 marijuana plants near the
Greenhorn Creek Trail in the Sequoia National Forest
in Kern County. Native oak trees and other vegetation
were cut down to make room for the marijuana
planted there. The soil was tilled, and fertilizers and
pesticides, including a highly toxic and illegal rat
poison from Mexico called Fosfuro de Zinc or zinc
phosphide, were spread throughout the site. Exposure
to zinc phosphide can cause a variety of ailments,
including vomiting, burning sensations, abdominal
pain, unconsciousness, and lack of muscle control. If
ingested, a small quantity can be fatal to humans.
Garcia is subject to deportation after he serves his
sentence.
The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal
Investigation Division, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE)
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Kern
County Sheriff's Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant
United States Attorney Karen Escobar.
Back to Defendant Summary
Smuggled Mexican pesticides involved in this investigation
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EPA Bulletin-July 2014
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Sentencings
Production Manager of California Tank Cleaning Company Sentenced for CERCLA Violation - Production
Manager of California Tank Cleaning Company Sentenced for CERCLA Violation -- On July 24, 2014, JORGE
LUQUIN, production manager for Pacific Tank Cleaning in San Diego, California, was sentenced in federal
district court for the Southern District of California for a CWA violation stemming from an acid spill that
occurred at a Pacific Tank Cleaning facility in March 2011. Luquin was sentenced to pay a $5,000 fine and
(will complete a three-year term of
probation. Luquin and the company pleaded
| guilty on February 20, 2014.
In March 2011, a valve on a 275-gallon
container of acidic tank cleaning solution
caused the tank's contents to leak onto the
ground, and into a nearby alley and street.
The company admitted that although an
employee advised management of the spill,
| the employee in charge of the facility failed to
notify the National Response Center. Luquin
knew that the tank had leaked, but made no
effort to contain the spill outside the facility.
Luquin pleaded guilty to a CWA violation and
Pacific Tank Cleaning pleaded guilty to a
CERCLA violation. The company was sentenced to pay a $50,000 fine, complete a three-year term of
probation, and pay $11,238 in restitution to the San Diego Department of Environmental Health Services.
The cleanup of the acid spill outside Pacific Tank Cleaning, Inc.
Stains on the ground caused by the acid spill
The case was investigated by the U.S. EPA Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI, and the San Diego
Department of Environmental Health Service, Hazardous Materials Management Division.
Back to Defendant Summary
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EPA Bulletin-July 2014
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Plea Agreements
Former Connecticut Manufacturing Company CEO Pleads Guilty to Violating CWA - On July 8, 2014,
THOMAS H. FARIA, the former chief executive officer and president of Faria Limited, LLC, doing business as
Sheffield Pharmaceuticals, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty in federal district court to a
felony violation of the Clean Water Act. As a condition of his guilty plea, Faria resigned from the company on
March 7, 2014, and shall have no role in the operations or management of Faria Limited.
Sheffield Pharmaceuticals has a factory in New London, Connecticut, that manufactures a wide range
of over-the-counter pharmaceutical creams, ointments and toothpastes. From approximately 1986 to July
2011, Sheffield discharged industrial wastewater from its New London manufacturing operations to the New
London POTW without a permit and in violation of Connecticut's approved pretreatment program. The New
London POTW discharges to the Thames River in southeastern Connecticut. During this entire time period,
Sheffield lacked a pretreatment system at its factory to treat its industrial wastewater prior to discharge to
the New London POTW, performed no regular monitoring of its discharges of industrial wastewater, and
submitted no monthly monitoring reports to the CT DEEP.
After becoming the company's president and chief executive officer in April 2003, Faria soon learned
through his own employees that Sheffield was discharging pollutants, including the toxic metal zinc, in its
industrial wastewater without the required permit. Faria also learned that in order to obtain a permit from
CT DEEP, the company would have to install, at significant expense, a wastewater pretreatment system that
would pretreat its industrial wastewater prior to discharging it to the New London POTW. Although Faria's
own employees urged him to make the financial investment to bring the company into compliance, Faria
chose not to do so. Faria continued this illegal course even when four environmental consulting firms, which
the company had hired, advised him that the discharge of industrial wastewater to the public sewage
treatment system, without a pretreatment system and CT DEEP permit, is illegal.
On April 20, 2011, CT DEEP conducted an unannounced inspection of Sheffield. After finding that the
company had no wastewater discharge permits, the CT DEEP inspector issued a Notice of Violation and cited
the company for discharging manufacturing and laboratory wastewater without a permit. On or about May
27, 2011, Faria Limited, LLC submitted a permit application to CT DEEP so that the company could legally
discharge industrial wastewater from its New London facility into the New London POTW. By July 2011, the
company had installed a wastewater pretreatment system at its factory to pretreat the pollutants contained
in its industrial wastewater prior to its discharge to the New London POTW.
Faria pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly violating, or causing to be violated, the Clean Water
Act, an offense that carries a maximum penalty of three years of imprisonment and a fine of not less than
$5,000 but not more than $50,000 per day of the violation. Sentencing is scheduled for October 6, 2014.
The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division and the Connecticut Department of Energy
and Environmental Protection. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Chen and Special
Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Kenyon.
Back to Defendant Summary
Page 10 EPA Bulletin—July 2014
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Plea Agreements
Australian Man Pleads Guilty in Las Vegas to Biofuels Fraud Scheme -- On July 22, 2014, NATHAN STOLIAR
of Australia pleaded guilty to five felonies for his role in multiple schemes worth more than $41 million, to
generate fraudulent biodiesel credits and to export biodiesel without providing biodiesel credits to the
United States as required by law. Sentencing for Stoliar has been set for Oct. 30, 2014.
Stoliar and another defendant had been charged in January 2014 in a 57-count indictment alleging
conspiracy, wire fraud, false statements under the Clean Air Act, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to
engage in money laundering. Stoliar returned to the United States from Poland in early February and pleaded
guilty to one count of conspiracy, one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, two counts of wire
fraud and one count of making false statements under the Clean Air Act. Stoliar is required by the plea to
forfeit $4 million and pay $1 million in restitution. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a
$500,000 fine for each count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering and wire fraud, five years in
prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiracy, and two years in prison and a $250,000 fine for making false
statements under the Clean Air Act.
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 created a number of federally-funded programs
that provided monetary incentives for the production and use of renewable fuels such as biodiesel in the
United States. Biodiesel producers and importers can generate and attach credits known as "renewable
identification numbers," or RINs, to the gallons of biodiesel they produce or import. Because companies that
sell transportation fuel in the United States need RINs to comply with regulatory obligations, RINs have
significant market value.
Stoliar admitted that beginning around September of 2009, he and co-defendant James Jariv
operated City Farm Biofuel in Vancouver, British Columbia, which billed itself a producer of biodiesel, using
"feedstocks" such as animal fat and vegetable oils. Stoliar and Jariv also formed Canada Feedstock Supply
that represented itself as City Farm's supplier of necessary feedstocks. Jariv also controlled a Las Vegas-
based company called Global E Marketing (GEM). Using these three and other closely-held companies, Stoliar
and his codefendants claimed to import, purchase and blend more than 4 million gallons of biodiesel. They
then sold the RINs and fraudulently generated millions of dollars. In reality, no biodiesel produced at City
Farm was ever imported and sold to GEM as claimed. Stoliar and Jariv then conspired to launder the
proceeds of their crimes by using foreign banks and complex financial transactions.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Wayne D. Hettenbach of the Environmental Crimes
Section of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division , Assistant U.S. Attorney's
Crane M. Pomerantz and Daniel D. Hollingsworth of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Nevada, and Assistant
Deputy Chief Darrin L. McCullough of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, Asset Forfeiture and Money
Laundering Section, with the assistance of the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs and the
United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas.
Back to Defendant Summary
Page 11 EPA Bulletin—July 2014
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Plea Agreements
Mexican Man Pleads Guilty to FIFRA Violations -- On July 7, 2014, HERNAN CORTEZ VILLASENOR (CORTEZ),
of Michoacan, Mexico, pleaded guilty in federal district court for the Eastern District of California to
conspiring to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, and distributing
unregistered pesticides, in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). In
pleading guilty, Cortez also agreed to pay $3,328 to the U.S. Forest Service for the damage caused by his
marijuana cultivation operation in the Greenhorn Creek area of the Sequoia National Forest.
According to court documents, the Greenhorn Creek site sustained extensive damage as a result of
the cultivation activities. Native oak trees and other vegetation were cut down or otherwise killed to make
room for the 8,876 marijuana plants planted there. The soil was tilled, and fertilizers and pesticides, including
Fosfuro de Zinc, a common Mexican rat poison containing zinc phosphide, were spread throughout the site.
Law enforcement officers also found 30 containers of Fosfuro de Zinc at Cortez's residence in Arvin, Calif.
after Cortez delivered supplies to the cultivation operation. EPA has designated zinc phosphide as a restricted
use pesticide, which means that it may only be purchased and used by, or under the supervision of, a
certified applicator. Zinc phosphide is banned for residential sale due to its acute toxicity. A single swallow
can be fatal to a small child.
Cortez is scheduled for sentencing on September 22, 2014. He faces a mandatory minimum prison
term of 10 years and a maximum prison term of life for the drug conspiracy. The pesticide charge carries a
maximum penalty of one year in prison and a fine of $100,000. The actual sentence, however, will be
determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors
and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. Upon completion of
any prison term imposed, Cortez is subject to deportation to Mexico.
The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security
Investigations (HSI), and the Kern County Sheriff's Office.
Back to Defendant Summary
Page 12 EPA Bulletin—July 2014
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