{"id":3742,"date":"2014-06-05T11:49:12","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T18:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=3742"},"modified":"2014-06-05T11:58:04","modified_gmt":"2014-06-05T18:58:04","slug":"man-plead-guilty-polluting-potomac-river-facing-prison-sentence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=3742","title":{"rendered":"Georgia Man Who Plead Guilty to Polluting Potomac River Facing Prison Sentence"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Potomac<\/a>
Potomac River<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A \u00a048-year-old \u00a0man plead guilty today to orchestrating the discharge of waste for two years into the Potomac River, said officials.<\/p>\n

While he was dumping the waste into the Potomac River, Patrick Brightwell,<\/strong>\u00a0of Bogart, Georgia, managed the company hired by the National Park service to clean out the storm water sewer system on the National Mall.<\/p>\n

Brightwell is facing more than four years in prison when he is sentenced in federal court. \u00a0He has agreed to pay $270,667 in restitution to the National Park Service, representing the losses for the work that was not properly performed, officials said.<\/p>\n

He also must pay a forfeiture money judgment totaling $230,899.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatrick Brightwell harmed the U.S. taxpayer and our nation\u2019s capital by directing his workers to dump waste in the Potomac River,\u201d said\u00a0U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ronald C. Machen Jr.\u00a0\u201cInstead of fulfilling a contract to take waste from the National Mall to a disposal facility, Brightwell polluted our water by telling his employees to cut corners regardless of the damage to our environment. The prison time that Brightwell now faces is an indication of how serious we are about enforcing the Clean Water Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

The discharge of waste into the Potomac River at East Potomac Park occurred from 2009 to 2011, officials said.<\/p>\n

\"Source:<\/a>
Source: B&P Environmental LLC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The subcontractor, B&P Environmental LLC<\/strong>, and a B&P employee both plead guilty in November 2014 to violations of the Clean Water Act.<\/p>\n

Both the company and employee are awaiting sentencing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defendant dumped untreated and debris into one of our nation\u2019s most treasured rivers, the Potomac,\u201d said Special Agent in Charge David G. McLeod Jr. of the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s criminal enforcement program for the Middle Atlantic States. \u201cBusinesses and their contractors who flout the nation’s environmental laws will be held accountable. EPA and its partner agencies are committed to vigorously working together to protect the public from this type of illegal and dangerous action.\u201d<\/p>\n

An eight-count indictment of Brightwell was unsealed following his arrest in Georgia on Dec. 5, 2013. The remaining charges will be dismissed as part of the guilty plea.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile he was supposed to be helping to keep the National Mall \u2013 a treasure of our national park system \u2013 clean and free of trash, Brightwell was actually directing the dumping of debris and wastewater into the Potomac River,\u201d said Acting Assistant Attorney General Sam Hirsch. \u201cHe now faces a stiff penalty for his callous and egregious violation of the Clean Water Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to federal officials, this is what happened:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • As a manager of a company that had a contract with the National Park Service to clean the storm water sewer system on the National Mall, Brightwell was\u00a0required that waste removed from the Mall\u2019s storm drains and oil-water separators be disposed of at a proper disposal facility in compliance with District of Columbia regulations and federal law.<\/li>\n
  • Brightwell hired employees and subcontractors to perform work under the contract and oversaw their work from 2008 to 2011.<\/li>\n
  • To clean the structures, Brightwell and his company used a vacuum truck, a vehicle designed to gather, store, and transport such waste. When the storage compartment in the vacuum truck became full, workers would have to discharge waste from the truck prior to continuing the cleaning.<\/li>\n
  • In 2009, 2010 and 2011, according to the statement of offense, Brightwell directed his employees and subcontractors to discharge waste from the vacuum truck at a storm drain near a parking lot in East Potomac Park, across Ohio Drive from the Potomac River.<\/li>\n
  • Brightwell hid these discharges from the National Park Service and police. Workers also discharged waste at a manhole near Fort McNair in the District of Columbia.<\/li>\n
  • \u00a0Brightwell continued to bill the National Park Service for cleaning services.<\/li>\n
  • From 2009 through 2011, Brightwell\u2019s company received approximately $406,000 in payments from the National Park Service related to the contract.<\/li>\n
  • According to the statement of offense, the employees and subcontractors illegally dumped waste at the parking lot approximately two-thirds of the time, and dumped the waste at a proper disposal facility in Fort Washington, Maryland, about one-third of the time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A \u00a048-year-old \u00a0man plead guilty today to orchestrating the discharge of waste for two years into the Potomac River, said officials. While he was dumping the waste into the Potomac River, Patrick…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,16],"tags":[556,557,555],"class_list":["post-3742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-courts","category-home-main-slider","tag-georgia-man","tag-patrick-brightwell","tag-potomac-river"],"yoast_head":"\nGeorgia Man Pleads Guilty to Polluting Potomac<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A \u00a048-year-old \u00a0man plead guilty today to orchestrating the discharge of waste for two years into the Potomac River, said officials. 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