[CPEO-MEF] Leaks lead to indictments

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Leaks lead to indictments 
Engineering firm is charged in DSCR creek contamination

BY MEREDITH FISCHER AND PAIGE AKIN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERS Apr 10, 2002

RICHMOND, VA 
A contractor hired to clean up the Defense Supply Center Richmond has 
been indicted on criminal charges of leaking contaminated groundwater 
and failing to report the leaks.

A Chesterfield County grand jury last month indicted Horne Engineering 
Services Inc. of Fairfax on four counts of violating state water laws.

Two of the four counts charge Horne with "unlawfully, knowingly and 
feloniously" neglecting to notify officials of an "unpermitted, unusual 
or extraordinary discharge to state waters" that could alter them 
physically, chemically or biologically.

The other two counts are similar, charging that Horne "caused or allowed 
a discharge or a noxious or deleterious substance" into state waters.

If convicted, Horne could face fines of $25,000 per count for each day 
the company was found to be in violation.

The indictment follows a state police investigation into a leak of 
nearly 100,000 gallons of untreated, contaminated water from the center 
into No Name Creek last July, as reported in The Times-Dispatch.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.timesdispatch.com/frontpage/MGBWB38JUZC.html