MAN CONVICTED FOR ILLEGALY DUMPING POLLUTANTS INTO STORM DRAIN AT CITY HALL
El Paso County Attorney José R.
Rodríguez announced today the sentencing of an individual found guilty of dumping
restaurant grease into a storm drain located next to El Paso City Hall.
On
November 6, 2006 Lorenzo Chavez, Jr., employed by Chavez Plumbing and Sons,
pled guilty to one charge of unauthorized discharge of waste or pollutant in
violation of the Texas Water Code. Mr. Chavez was sentenced to 12 months
probation, pay a $5,000 fine, serve 80 hours of community service, and ordered
to pay court costs.
The
offense occurred in December 2004, when a citizen leaving City Hall observed a
man dumping an oily thick substance from a container into the storm drain on Durango Street, in
front of City Hall. The citizen wrote
down the license plate number of the truck used by the defendant and reported
the incident to her City Representative, who then referred the matter to the
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Upon further investigation, the defendant
admitted dumping waste from a grease trap he, his father and brother were
installing at a restaurant in City Hall.
The
prosecution of the case was possible due to the coordinated efforts of the
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, El Paso Police Dept., El Paso Water
Utilities, and the Environmental Services Code Compliance Office.
"The unauthorized discharge of waste or
pollutants into waters of the state is a very serious environmental crime which
we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law," said County Attorney José
R. Rodríguez.
"Dumping
anything but clean water into the storm drain is especially bad for the
environment because the contaminant goes directly into the underground water or
into the river, its ultimate destination.
It is unfair for the victims of this type of illegal dumping, namely those
of us who pay for water, to have to pay for the decontamination of water polluted
by unscrupulous merchants who try to save a few dollars by illegally disposing
of their waste." Rodríguez added.
Unauthorized
discharge is an on-going problem in the county
of El Paso, and the County Attorney's
Office will continue to prosecute such offenders. The penalty for unauthorized discharge ranges
from a fine of note less than $1,000 but not more than $50,000 for an
individual, or up to 1 year in jail, or both.
For an association or corporation, the fine is up to $100,000. To
report illegal dumping or other environmental crime, call your local law
enforcement agency: The Environmental
Hotline at 1-888-6EL-PASO, El Paso
Police Dept. at 832-4400, or El Paso Sheriff's Dept. at 546-2280.
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Illegal Dumping Sentencing Press Release.pdf