P a U L i u S via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND
The former branch manager of the International Petroleum Corp. oil recycling operation has been indicted on environmental charges.
A federal grand jury indicted Lance A. Charen on charges of storage of hazardous waste without a permit, false statements, transporting hazardous waste without a permit, tampering with a monitoring method for hazardous waste, falsification of a monitoring report, processing and discharging of waste without a permit and discharging of waste in excess of permit limits.
According to the indictment Charen served as branch manager of the International Petroleum Corp. plant in Wilmington from September 13, 2010, through January 31, 2013.
[pdf-embedder url=”http://delawarebusinessnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/CHAREN-Indictment.pdf” title=”CHAREN Indictment”]
International, a part of a Spanish company, previously pleaded guilty to environmental crime charges.
International recycled waste oil and waste water into petroleum products.
The indictments stated that Charen had overall responsibility for environmental compliance at the Wilmington facility, including the handling of hazardous waste, the determination of which waste streams the facility accepted for processing and treatment, and the operation of the wastewater treatment plant.
Tests were made and sent to the City of Wilmington.
According to the indictment, the company cleaned tanks with waste oil that had hazardous waste, with the company keeping the waste on site for a time. Also, shipments of the waste were taken to a South Carolina site without proper permits.
The waste case has led to criticism of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control for not adequately monitoring the situation.