Delco Firm Charged In 2007 Chemical Spill
MARCUS HOOK, Pa. (CBS) - A Delaware County chemical company is facing federal charges for allegedly dumping dangerous chemicals into a local creek that flows into the Delaware River.
The federal government alleges that nearly four years ago employees of Chemical Equipment Labs in Marcus Hook were rinsing out the interior of a company truck which had been used to transport chlorine. Authorities say liquid from the truck flowed into a manhole on the parking lot and eventually into the Marcus Hook Creek.
Assistant US attorney John Pease says local police and fire departments responded and notified the EPA of a chemical spill.
"Anytime a company decides to discharge dangerous chemicals of the type that we're looking at here into a water of the United States and it implicates the Clean Water Act, the Environmental Protection Agency pursues it very aggressively," Pease told KYW Newsradio on Wednesday.
If convicted, the company faces a maximum possible sentence of five years' probation, a $200,000 fine, and could be ordered to pursue an environmental compliance program in which employees are trained in the proper disposal of chemicals.
Reported by Brad Segall, KYW Newsradio 1060.
