Spencer Env. CEO Gets Jail Time!

[Chromaflage]

I've heard stories for many years. So, the fact that Spencer got pinched wasn't all that surprising, but locking up the CEO sets a new precedent fro Oregon. This is a wake-up call for companies to audit their waste disposal providers. I have a feeling that this is just the tip of the iceberg and there will be more fallout in months to come.

Judge sends Oregon polluter to federal prison for 6 months

06/05/2008
By WILLIAM McCALL / Associated Press
In a rare prison sentence for an environmental crime, the owner of a company that repeatedly mishandled waste oil and other hazardous material has been sentenced to six months in a federal penitentiary.
Donald Spencer will also pay a maximum $150,000 fine on behalf of his former company, Spencer Environmental Inc.


In a separate case, a former Spencer Environmental plant manager was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury on charges of obstructing justice and giving a false statement in the death of a Spencer employee.
Spencer was convicted of failing to dispose properly of thousands of gallons of used oil, much of it dumped into a large open pit in southeast Portland.
His company was also convicted of illegal treatment and disposal of wastewater contaminated with highly corrosive hydrofluoric acid.


Assistant U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton said the mishandled waste was the source of a catastrophic fire and was implicated in the case of a worker who "died a horrible death — with his lungs gradually disintegrating."
Holton told U.S. District Judge Ancer Haggerty a prison term for Spencer was necessary because "it is imperative that a message be sent loud and clear — we can't let environmental crimes such as this be treated as the cost of doing business."


Haggerty agreed the company shared some of the blame for the death of Tim Smith, a college student who died from lung damage in July 2003 about three weeks after he tried to clean a tank for an industrial customer of Spencer Environmental.


Because a Spencer Environmental manager ordered the tank filled with other material after Smith was hospitalized with breathing problems, prosecutors said it was impossible to prove any connection.
But the judge told Spencer during sentencing on Thursday there was "no question" that if his company had properly tested the tank for contamination Smith would not have been ordered to clean it.
"I realize that you or your company were not charged with the injury that resulted in death," Haggerty said, "but the government's argument for a penitentiary sentence has merit."


Prison terms are rare in environmental cases. Only two previous cases in the past decade in the Pacific Northwest resulted in prison sentences, both in Idaho, according to U.S. Justice Department records.
Haggerty rejected arguments by Spencer's attorney, Per Ramfjord, for home detention and probation instead of prison.


Ramfjord said the company was not "deliberately or knowingly" disposing of waste illegally and noted the March 2004 fire that destroyed the open pit disposal site resulted from a welder's torch nearly a year after Spencer sold the business he had founded in the 1970s.


In a brief statement to the judge, Spencer apologized and said, "I recognize I made some mistakes."
Holton, however, noted in a presentencing memo that "Spencer could have prevented many of the problems that were associated with his facility in his role as president of the corporation, but failed to do so in order to cut costs and cut corners."


The fire led to the federal investigation resulting in the charges.
Holton called Spencer's violations of environmental laws "repeated and egregious" with "tragic consequences."


In the indictment handed up Wednesday against former Spencer Environmental plant manager Durbin Hartel, prosecutors said that after Smith was hospitalized, the tank where he had been cleaning was filled with sludge called "rocker lube."


Holton said that "rather than sampling the tank or preserving the remaining contents, Hartel ordered the tank filled ... the very next business day, destroying forever any evidence."


Smith's uncle, Greg Smith, said doctors might have been able to save his nephew if they had known what kind of chemical he had inhaled.
Smith, who attended the Thursday sentencing for Spencer, said his nephew was also learning to be a pilot to follow in the missionary work of his parents in Africa, where he grew up.


"He was a great kid," Greg Smith said. "It's a tragedy all the way around."

[StickFish]

You won't guess who decommissioned my oil tank at my old house in SW Portland - WOW!

[bladehorn]

Finally a CEO being held accountable for their actions and their business practices.

I'm not a total tree hugger but we need to take care of our planet it's the only one we have.

As for the plant manager covering up for the his or his supervisors mistakes in sending that young man to his death (though it will never be proved in a court of law)
I hope he at least pays for lying to the grand jury.

I wonder if he can sleep at night or does he see that young mans face in his dreams?

[huntercgr]

You won't guess who decommissioned my oil tank at my old house in SW Portland - WOW!

Mine also if I remember correctly. We need more wake-up calls like this one.

[Fast Water]

We knew to steer clear of Spencer years ago.

[djb]

Thermofluids bought out Spencer a few years ago. I contract withThermofluids to pick up my waste oil and coolant for my shop. I asked my Thermofluids[ex Spencer] driver about the court case a few months ago. He told me that Spencer was a good person to work for and that the guy that died did not follow proper procedures when he was in the tank. He was supposed to go in there with a respirator and safety line. He said that they needed a scapegoat and that Spencer was it.

[Danno]

Originally Posted by djb

Thermofluids bought out Spencer a few years ago. I contract withThermofluids to pick up my waste oil and coolant for my shop. I asked my Thermofluids[ex Spencer] driver about the court case a few months ago. He told me that Spencer was a good person to work for and that the guy that died did not follow proper procedures when he was in the tank. He was supposed to go in there with a respirator and safety line. He said that they needed a scapegoat and that Spencer was it.

I believe that a breathing apparatus, a buddy outside the tank as well as a permit is required for entering any enclosed space like that. That's a rule that must be enforced from the top down, not the bottom up.

The real guilt was pointed to when Spencer filled the tank to hide the previous contents from analysis.

[CATCH AND EAT]

Originally Posted by djb

Thermofluids bought out Spencer a few years ago. I contract withThermofluids to pick up my waste oil and coolant for my shop. I asked my Thermofluids[ex Spencer] driver about the court case a few months ago. He told me that Spencer was a good person to work for and that the guy that died did not follow proper procedures when he was in the tank. He was supposed to go in there with a respirator and safety line. He said that they needed a scapegoat and that Spencer was it.

Thermofluids also takes care of my waste. they are just a couple blocks away from my shop. As djb said Don is a good person and since he is CEO he was liable for everyones negligent acts. I'm very sorry about Mr. Smith. Horrible way to die, just horrible.