A company will pay a total of $1 million to resolve allegations that it killed 150 fish in a brook in Cheshire, a felony violation of the federal Clean Water Act, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Connecticut.
Authorities say that National Water Main Cleaning Co. knowingly discharged uncured geopolymer mortar into Cuff Brook while refurbishing a large culvert pipe in July 2019, which killed the fish and contaminated the brook.
The company, based in New Jersey and owned by Chicago-based Carylon Corp., waived its right to be indicted and pleaded guilty last week before U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport.
As part of a plea agreement, National Water Main Cleaning will be under federal probation for three years, and must pay a $500,000 fine to the federal government and $500,000 to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to fund aquatic ecosystem enhancement projects in the South Central Coastal Watershed.
The company was hired by the town to repair an 11-foot culvert pipe underneath Marion Road, authorities said. The project specifications required the company to use environmental controls that would prevent uncured geopolymer mortar from leaking into Cuff Brook.
The pollutant seeped into the brook on July 17, 2019 during a rainstorm, the investigation found.
A Cheshire resident with property along Cuff Brook noticed dead fish and discolored water with an “oily sheen” in the brook, and smelled a chemical odor similar to lighter fluid, authorities said.
DEEP responded and determined that National Water Main Cleaning was responsible for the pollutant release.
The government’s investigation found that the company was “aware that its environmental controls were deficient, but did not remediate these deficiencies during the project.”
At first, the company attempted to blame the incident on an employee, but the investigation discovered that the company lacked an environmental training program, and that the employee had been inadequately trained.
“Any business operating in Connecticut that ignores environmental laws does so at its own peril,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut Vanessa Roberts Avery. “By prioritizing its bottom line over environmental compliance, NWMCC allowed a hazardous substance to escape into Cuff Brook, causing a fish kill and contaminating a public body of water.”
National Water Main Cleaning is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 27.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division with assistance from DEEP and the state’s Office of the Attorney General.
