Construction company fined $500K for polluting Susquehanna River
(WBNG Binghamton)
A construction company was ordered to pay $500,000 in fines after being found guilty of polluting the Susquehanna River, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Crane-Hogan Structural Systems Inc. pleaded guilty and was sentenced in federal court in Binghamton on Wednesday for violating the Clean Water Act while doing work in Broome County.
The construction firm is based out of Spencerport, Monroe County.
Crane-Hogan admitted that in December 2008 and January 2009, it discharged concrete slurry into the river without a permit -- during a hydro-demolition project at the Binghamton Governmental Center Parking Garage.
In addition to the fine, the company was placed on a five-year probation where it will be required to develop, fund and implement an environmental plan to prevent future violations.
Two project managers from Crane-Hogan were sentenced for their involvement in polluting the river -- Mark Pullyblank, 54, of Caledonia, and William Clements, 54, of Victor.
Pullyblank was sentenced to three years of probation, a $10,000 fine and 120 hours of community service for supervising the intentional discharge at the BGC parking garage.
Clements was sentenced to one year of probation and a $2,000 fine. As a project manager, he supervised the negligent discharge of concrete slurry within the Wilson Hospital parking garage in Johnson City in July 2009. The waste went into a manhole that led to the Binghamton-Johnson City Publicly Owned Treatment Works, according to the justice department.
The criminal investigation was conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Criminal Investigation Division and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Bureau of Environmental Crimes Investigation.