If you pollute you will eventually PAY - here 4+ years
on from the spill the Guide Corp are paying the price of the spill
An Ohio company pleaded guilty Monday to criminal violations of the Clean
Water Act for its part in the 1999 chemical spill that killed nearly 5 million fish in White River.
Crown Environmental Group will pay a $100,000 fine as part of its plea
to seven misdemeanour charges, according to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.
Federal prosecutors say Crown also has agreed to pay a $250,000 civil
settlement to the state and federal governments.Crown was the environmental
consulting firm for Guide Corp., which manufactures automotive signal lighting at a plant in Anderson.
A toxic-chemical discharge
from Guide flowed into the Anderson sewage plant and wound up in White
River. The discharge killed fish in a 50-mile stretch from Anderson
to Indianapolis. Guide previously pleaded guilty to seven misdemeanour
violations of the federal Clean Water Act. In June 2001, the company
agreed to pay $14.2 million as part of a settlement with the state and
federal government and the city of Anderson.
Anderson paid $250,000 in
June 2002 to settle civil claims by the federal government and Indiana
Department of Environmental Management that it failed to properly monitor
industrial discharge. Prosecutors would not explain why it took more
than four years to file the charges against Crown, which faced a maximum
$1.4 million fine under federal law.
Crown's punishment is lighter
because unlike Guide, it did not gain monetarily from the disaster,
the plea agreement states. Company officials could not be reached for
comment. More than 700 property owners along the river from Anderson
to 16th Street in Indianapolis who said the incident hurt land values
received $2 million from Guide Corp. and Crown to settle a separate
class action lawsuit. Each resident received about $1,500. The Executive
Director of Friends of the White River, who also lives on the river,
said he was pleased to learn of the settlement with Crown. "I would
be hopeful that we'd look at utilizing those funds . . . directly toward
restoration."
Environmentalists say the
river has made a good recovery in the past few years, after being stocked
with more than 1 million fish. Anglers even report catching smallmouth
bass and other game fish, the executive Director of Friends of the White
River. "It's still going to take some time," he said. "We're
seeing progress not only with natural recovery, but also increased public
awareness and, I hope, more sensitivity on the part of potential polluters."
A retired DePauw University ecology professor who helped the state decide
how to spend some of the original settlement money, said the river's
recovery is faster than he thought it would be. "It's on its way
back," he said.
Indy Star - March 2, 2004 |
