Environmental Law

This Goes Under The Category Of Just Plain Stupid

By Walter James

The Tyler Morning Telegraph is reporting that three men have been arrested for allegedly dumping gasoline into a creek.  The Van Zandt County Sheriff?s office and the Grand Saline Police Department responded to a citizen?s complaint of illegal dumping on Tuesday, June 2, 2009, on a county road.  The investigation determined that several individuals were pumping the contents of underground storage gas tanks from the B-Z Mart in Grand Saline to containers on a truck and then dumping it on Van Zandt County Road 1805.  The investigators found a large quantity of a hazardous fluid had been dumped on the roadway and into the creek behind the Grand Saline City Lake.  The sheriff, Pat Burnett, said a concerned citizen contacted investigators and told them that the truck that dumped the substance was filling back up and would be heading back out to dump the fluid again.  Investigators went to the B-Z Mart and watched the individuals filling four containers on a trailer and truck. 

The truck broke down before arriving at the spot chosen for the dumping and that was when investigators began questioning the two men in the truck.  The two men, Billy Perdue Jr. and Gilbert Perry Jr. told detectives they had been hired by Shahzad Zulifqar, the B-Z Mart owner to pump out the underground storage tanks and dispose of the fluid.  All three were arrested and charged with felonies of illegal dumping.  Further criminal and civil actions are likely. 

You can read the full article here: http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20090605/NEWS01/906059995.

More later.

As always, feel free to contact me via e-mail at walter.james@jamespllc.com.

WDJiii

Full post as published by Environmental Crimes Blog on June 06, 2009 (boomark / email).