Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 18, 1990 TAG: 9005180093
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
Franklin Emergency Services Coordinator David Laurrell testified Thursday that some of the drums were lying on their sides with cleaning solvent leaking into the soil.
An aerial photograph of the site was enough to persuade Franklin Circuit Judge B.A. Davis III to find Raven Boatworks Inc. guilty of illegally transporting and storing hazardous materials.
"Nothing on God's green Earth gives . . . anybody the right to desecrate the Earth like this," Davis said, holding the photo in his hand. "They make a mess in Henry County and bring it into Franklin County and dump it."
Davis fined the company $5,000.
Raven Boatworks, a maker of fiberglass pleasure boats, still faces possible civil sanctions by the state Department of Waste Management.
John Ely, the department's director of enforcement, said the company has been under scrutiny by waste management officials since June 1989.
Ely, who attended Thursday's trial, said the state had begun enforcement action in December to force Raven Boatworks to dispose of toxic materials generated by the company's central manufacturing plant in Martinsville.
The company's solution, Ely said, involved trucking solvents and other materials classified as hazardous waste to its Snow Creek facility in eastern Franklin County.
"We were sitting on them and they committed a crime" by not hiring a licensed disposal company, Ely said outside the courtroom.
Eric Ferguson, a Rocky Mount lawyer representing Raven Boatworks, asked Davis to not fine the company because the chemicals never posed a health hazard to the area.
"This is not something on the scale of Kim-Stan," said Ferguson, referring to the Alleghany County landfill closed by the state for numerous environmental violations.
Ferguson also noted that Raven Boatworks had spent nearly $40,000 to clean up the Snow Creek site.
But Franklin Commonwealth's Attorney Cliff Hapgood argued that the company had waited several weeks to take corrective action after being notified of the problem. Hapgood said making an example of Raven Boatworks might deter others who may try to skirt hazardous-waste laws.
"You have to make people understand that if you do this, things are going to happen to you, and it's not going to be pleasant," Hapgood said.
Outside the courtroom, Ferguson said Raven Boatworks does not plan to appeal the conviction or fine.
by CNB