Former Manager of Michigan Wastewater Treatment Company Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Discharging Untreated Liquid Wastes

WASHINGTON— Michael Panyard, the former general manager of Comprehensive Environmental Solutions Inc. (CESI), a company that operates an industrial waste treatment and disposal facility in Dearborn, Mich., was sentenced today to 15 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Victoria A. Roberts of the Eastern District of Michigan, the Justice Department announced. He was also sentence to two years of supervised release and was ordered to participate in a comprehensive drug treatment program. Panyard of Pleasant Ridge, Mich., was convicted following a three week trial in October 2008, of nine counts, including one conspiracy count, two counts of violating the Clean Water Act and six counts of making false statements in connection with illegal discharges of millions of gallons of untreated liquid wastes from the facility. Charles Long of Brownstown, Mich., also a former plant manager, was convicted of conspiracy and a Clean Water Act violation. Earlier this month Long was sentenced to 24 months in prison followed by two years supervised release. Bryan Mallindine of Carlsbad, Calif., the former chief executive officer, was convicted of one count of negligently bypassing the facility’s required pretreatment system, a misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act. In March 2009, he was sentenced to three years probation, including three months home confinement. Another former plant manager, Don Kaniowski, also was sentenced in March to three years probation following his plea to a felony Clean Water Act violation. Kaniowski provided substantial assistance to the government in the course of its investigation. According to the evidence presented during the trial, CESI had a permit to treat liquid industrial waste brought to the facility from throughout the Midwest and Canada, through a variety of processes, and then discharge it into the Detroit sanitary sewer system. Liquid industrial wastes were stored at the facility in twelve large above-ground tanks capable of holding more than 10 million gallons. During the period from January 2001 to June 2002, facility employees routinely bypassed the facility’s treatment system in order to discharge untreated liquid wastes directly into the sanitary sewer system. During most of this time, the facility had no operable equipment to treat incoming liquid wastes and the 10 million gallon tank farm was full with virtually no capacity to store additional liquid wastes. Nonetheless, the facility continued to accept more than 16 million gallons of liquid industrial waste-streams for purported treatment and disposal. Because the facility had no space available for this additional waste, nor equipment to treat it, company employees discharged nearly 13 million gallons of untreated liquid waste into the sanitary sewer in violation of the Clean Water Act, the facility’s permit, and the consent order under which the facility operated. Evidence at trial further showed that the defendants took steps to conceal the lack of treatment from customers and regulatory officials, including Detroit Water and Sewerage Department personnel, through false statements and tampering with legally required compliance samples. "Self-regulation is the backbone of all of our environmental compliance programs, including our Clean Water Act pretreatment and National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit programs," said John C. Cruden, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. "Without good faith efforts at compliance with pretreatment requirements and honest reporting when violations occur, even our best efforts at preserving our nation’s waters ultimately will fail. The sentences imposed in this case emphasize the powerful deterrent value of criminal enforcement efforts aimed at ensuring compliance with laws and regulations designed to protect the environment." Terrence Berg, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan said, "The Clean Water Act p