Ore. polluter sent to federal prison for 6 months

[devilgrrl]

Jun 5th, 2008 | PORTLAND, Ore. -- In a rare prison sentence for an environmental crime, the owner of a company that repeatedly mishandled waste oil and other hazardous material was sentenced Thursday to six months in a federal penitentiary.

Donald Spencer must also pay a maximum fine of $150,000 on behalf of his former company, Spencer Environmental Inc.

Spencer was convicted of failing to dispose properly of thousands of gallons of used oil, much of it dumped into a large open pit in southeast Portland. His company was convicted of illegal treatment and disposal of wastewater contaminated with highly corrosive hydrofluoric acid.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton said the mishandled waste was the source of a catastrophic fire and was implicated in the case of a worker who "died a horrible death — with his lungs gradually disintegrating."

Holton told U.S. District Judge Ancer Haggerty that a prison term for Spencer was needed because "it is imperative that a message be sent loud and clear — we can't let environmental crimes such as this be treated as the cost of doing business."

more: http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/us/2008/06/05/D9149QNG2_polluter_prison/index.html

Gee, too bad he wasn't one of those Tree Hugging/Earth First/Enviro Terrorists - he would have gotten a much longer sentence. :sarcasm:

[Teaser]

1. That's how you do it. That's old school.

.

[Selatius]

2. He's an eco-terrorist in the truest sense of the word. He attacks innocent people by...

attacking the environment in which they reside.

[mtf80123]

3. Agreed

he is indeed an "Eco-Terrorist"

Can we throw in "Crimes agains Nature and Humanity" to boot?

[Gabi Hayes]

4. Times Beach, anyone?

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/MO-TimesBeach.html



Along Route 66 you now see one of Missouri’s newest state parks – the Route 66 State Park. However, this park has an interesting past, as it was once the former site of a resort community on the Meramec River called Times Beach.

Founded in 1925 as a summer resort, investors sold lots for $67.50. Focusing primarily on St. Louis residents, the investors touted the potential for summer homes just 17 miles away from downtown St. Louis. However, it was not to be. The depression was soon upon them and gas rationing following World War II dashed all hopes for a summer resort. The town eventually developed into a lower-middle class city. Prone to flooding, many of the town’s first buildings were built on stilts.


In the early 1970s the town could not afford to pave its many dirt road streets and was plagued with a dust problem. To solve the dilemma, the city hired waste hauler Russell Bliss to oil the roads in the town. For four years between 1972 and 1976, Bliss sprayed waste oil on the roads.

Bliss had first used the technique of spraying waste oil to control dust in horse stables. When, in 1971, spraying resulted in the death of 62 horses, the stable owner automatically suspected Bliss of contaminating the stables. However, Bliss assured them that it was simple engine oil that he was spraying.

What the city and the stable owners didn’t know is that Bliss had subcontracted to haul waste for the Northeastern Pharmaceutical and Chemical Company (NEPACCO) who operated a facility in Verona, Missouri. During the Vietnam War, this facility had been a producer of Agent Orange and the waste clay and water removed from the plant contained levels of dioxin some 2,000 time higher than the dioxin content in Agent Orange. Bliss would later claim he was unaware that the waste contained dioxin. In the meantime, he was spraying the dirt roads of Times Beach, as well as area horse stables, with the lethal material



...................


it gets much worse