OWNER AND COMPANY CHARGED
WITH DISCHARGING POLLUTANTS

PRESS RELEASE

Susan W. Brooks, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, announced that ANTHONY McCULLOUGH, 63, Bargersville, Indiana, and MILLER ENVIRONMENTAL, a company located in Shelbyville and Rushville, were each charged today with felony violations of the Clean Water Act, following an investigation by the Indiana Interagency Environmental Crime Task Force for the Southern District of Indiana. Four of the member agencies involved on the Task Force investigated the Miller Environmental case including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Law Enforcement Division.

The information alleges that Anthony McCULLOUGH was the owner of MILLER ENVIRONMENTAL, a company operating two facilities in Shelbyville, Indiana, and one facility in Rushville, Indiana. The Miller Street location in Shelbyville was an oil reclamation facility. The Elston Drive location in Shelbyville was a location that manufactured and blended chemicals. The Rushville facility was used to degrease and derust parts. Between July 2002 and November 4, 2003, employees at the main facility on Miller Street discharged oily residue at least thirteen times; employees at the Elston Drive facility discharged wastewater contaminated with acids and caustics at least twenty times; and employees at the Rushville facility discharged rinsewaters with degreasing and derusting chemicals at least one time. The illegal discharges allegedly were done at the direction of McCULLOUGH via the floor drains at the facilities. Each of these 34 violations is in violation of the federal Clean Water Act which regulates what industrial users may discharge to city facilities treating wastewater from residences, businesses, and industries. McCULLOUGH and his company, MILLER ENVIRONMENTAL, are each charged with violating the Clean Water Act for each of these 34 discharges and could be fined separately for each violation.

According to Assistant United States Attorney Gayle L. Helart, who is prosecuting the case for the government, McCULLOUGH and his company, MILLER ENVIRONMENTAL, each face a maximum possible fine of $1,700,000. McCULLOUGH faces a term of imprisonment of up to 3 years for each of the three felony counts relating to each of the facilities. MILLER ENVIRONMENTAL faces a maximum term of probation of 5 years. An initial hearing will be scheduled before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Indianapolis.

The information is an allegation only, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at trial or by guilty plea

. ###

20070709.Miller.env.wpd

###