Sheffield Pharmaceuticals LLC of New London, formerly known as Faria Limited LLC, has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the government to resolve violations of the Clean Water Act, according to a news release Tuesday from the U.S. attorney’s office in Connecticut.
The government Tuesday filed a criminal information charging Sheffield with violating the Clean Water Act. As part of a deferred prosecution agreement, Sheffield is required to commit no criminal conduct, comply with all applicable environmental laws and regulations, and pay $1 million, most of which will support environmental conservation projects in coastal Connecticut, the release said. If Sheffield fully complies with this agreement, the information will be dismissed.
The information and deferred prosecution agreement relate to the conduct of Thomas H. Faria, Sheffield’s former president and CEO, who pleaded guilty to a felony violation of the Clean Water Act on July 8, 2014. From at least April 2004 to May 2011, under Faria’s leadership, Sheffield discharged polluted industrial wastewater from its New London factory into the municipal sewage system without the required permit and industrial wastewater treatment system, the release said.
As a condition of his guilty plea, Faria resigned from the company on March 7, 2014, and no longer has any role in its operations or management. Last year, Faria was sentenced to three years of probation, a $30,000 fine, and 300 hours of community service.
In July 2011, the company installed a wastewater pretreatment system at its factory to pretreat the pollutants contained in its industrial wastewater prior to its discharge to the New London public sewage system, commonly known as the publicly owned treatment works (POTW), the release said. Currently led by a new management team, Sheffield has remained compliant with the Clean Water Act.
The company’s current chief executive officer, Jeffrey Davis, is a former Sheffield manager who personally urged Faria to bring the company into compliance with the Clean Water Act as early as 2005. The company has also established a formal procedure to protect whistleblowers who come forward.
Sheffield has agreed to pay $1 million, which includes a $150,000 fine and $850,000 to fund beneficial environmental projects in coastal Connecticut, Deirdre M. Daly, U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut, said in the release.
