Marmon Utility LLC waived its right to be indicted and pleaded guilty before the U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to a felony violation of the Clean Water Act.
According to the DOJ, the company knowingly failed to properly operate and maintain the industrial wastewater treatment system and sludge processing equipment at the Kerite Power Cable & Pump Cable factory located in Seymour, Connecticut.
Marmon Utility LLC is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway and owns and operates the factory.
According to court documents and statements made in court, the Kerite Power Cable & Pump Cable factory in Seymour manufactures large power cables and generates industrial wastewater containing heavy metals including lead and zinc.
An investigation revealed that Marmon had been cutting back on its environmental compliance program for many years, and had not had an employee with an environmental background running its wastewater treatment system since February 2004. The operator of the wastewater treatment system became ill in March 2016, but Marmon ran the system for approximately five months with maintenance employees who lacked training.
On Sept. 7 and 8, 2016, the superintendent of the Seymour treatment plant observed rusty brown wastewater flowing into the plant and notified CT DEEP. After taking samples it was determined that the lead concentration of the rusty brown influent was approximately 127 times greater than the plant’s normal lead measurement. Its zinc concentration was over 10 times the typical zinc concentration.
Under the terms of its plea agreement, if accepted by the court, Marmon will be under federal probation for three years and must pay $2.4 million to the government.
$800,000 will be paid as a federal penalty and $1.6 million to fund a Supplemental Environmental Project administered by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to remediate the Naugatuck River.
More information about the violations can be found here.
