On April 29, Tyco Printed Circuit Group (TCPG) of Stafford, Conn., a subsidiary of Tyco International, pled guilty to 12 counts of violating the Clean Water Act (CWA) for discharge of hazardous pollutants into sewage treatment systems.
The plea agreement calls for TPCG to pay a $6 million federal fine, provide $2.7 million to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) natural resources fund, pay $500,000 each to the Towns of Stafford and Manchester to fund sewer and water treatment system improvements, and pay $300,000 to recycle deionized and other wastewater at TCPG's Stafford and Staffordville facilities.
Between 1999 and June 2001, TCPG managers at the company's Stafford, Staffordville and Manchester facilities engaged in practices that caused the facilities to discharge wastewater with higher than permitted levels of pollutants into municipal sewage treatment systems. The illegal practices included discarding composite samples with excessive levels of toxic metals, omitting samples with pH levels that indicated non-compliance with permits and improperly diluting samples.
Three former TCPG managers, Anthony Dadalt, Robert Smith and Daniel Callahan, await sentencing on separate charges in connection with this case. The case was investigated by the Boston Area Office of EPA's Criminal Investigation Division and the Connecticut DEP with the assistance of EPA's National Enforcement Investigations Center. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Hartford.
