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The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut issued a March 4th press release stating that National Water Main Cleaning Company (“NWMCC”) was sentenced by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for a felony violation of the Clean Water Act.
NWMCC is stated to be based in New Jersey and owned by Carylon Corporation which is based in Chicago, Illinois.
NWMCC is alleged to have knowingly discharged a pollutant into Cuff Brook while refurbishing a large culvert pipe in Chesire, Connecticut, in July 2019. The alleged unauthorized discharge of uncured geopolymer mortar is stated to have killed more than 150 fish and contaminated the waterbody.
The U.S. Attorney’s news release states that court documents and statements made in court indicate that the town of Chesire’s project specifications required that the work be done under dry conditions along with environmental controls to prevent uncured geopolymer mortar from leaking into the waterbody. It is alleged that on two days in 2019, NWMCC sprayed the referenced mortar onto the culvert pipe without the mandated environmental controls and on July 17th continued to work despite heavy rain which led to this material seeping into the waterbody.
NWMCC pleaded guilty to the offense on January 17th.
The Court sentenced NWMCC to:
- Federal prohibition with environmental conditions for three years.
- $500,000.00 federal penalty.
- $500,000.00 to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environment Protection to fund aquatic ecosystem enhancement projects in the South Central Coastal Watershed.
A copy of the press release can be downloaded here.
