RI Recycler Indicted by Grand Jury

Late last week a Providence County, RI, grand jury indicted Metals Recycling LLC, Johnston, R.I., on 10 felony counts related to the illegal operation, storage, transportation and disposal of hazardous waste.

The criminal indictments stem from an eight-month surveillance by investigators from the Department of Environmental Management's Office of Criminal Investigation and the FBI. The investigation began in May 1998 and resulted in the execution of several search warrants on January 28, 1999 at Metals Recycling LLC's Rhode Island facility. The investigation focused on hazardous levels of PCB-contaminated auto fluff being transported via tractor-trailer from a Metals Recycling LLC facility in Worcester, Mass., to the Johnston facility and to the Central Landfill.

The indictments handed down by the Grand Jury relate to operations at Metals Recycling LLC's Celia Street facility between July 14, 1998 and January 28, 1999. They include one count related to the illegal storage of hazardous waste; one count related to the illegal operation of an unlicensed hazardous waste facility; six counts related to the illegal transportation of hazardous waste; one count of failing to prepare a hazardous waste manifest; and one count of illegally operating a solid waste facility without a license.

All of the charges are felonies. The maximum penalty on counts one through nine is $10,000 and five years imprisonment for each day during which the violation was repeated, and the maximum penalty on count 10 is $25,000 and five years imprisonment for each day during which the violation was repeated.