Judge Sentences Plant Manager For Violating Clean Water Act
July 8, 2019
A Smyrna, Georgia plant manager is sentenced to house arrest for polluting a Chattahoochee River tributary.
The manager of a Smyrna, Georgia, chemical plant is sentenced to house arrest and a $2,000 fine for polluting a tributary of the Chattahoochee River in violation of the Clean Water Act, according to an article from MDJonline. Carlos Conde, manager of an Apollo Industries chemical processing plant reportedly demonstrated “flagrant disregard for the laws meant to protect the environment.”
According to the article, in August 2016, a batching tank at the Apollo facility began leaking a carburetor cleaner containing the toxic chemical naphalene. When workers discovered the spill, Conde reportedly instructed them to wash the chemical away with hoses. The chemical was washed away into the tributary where it traveled about three quarters of a mile, killing wildlife, including fish and frogs. Conde reportedly twice denied involvement in the incident when questioned by Environmental Protection Agency criminal investigators.
