Hussey Copper fined for polluting Ohio River

Hussey Copper pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to polluting the Ohio River and was immediately sentenced to probation and a $550,000 fine.

The company pleaded to violating the Clean Water Act by discharging oil, copper and other pollutants into the river and then lying about it.

U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV accepted the plea and sentenced the company to three years of probation and the fine.

Hussey was charged Nov. 30 with three counts of submitting a false discharge monitoring report, discharging oil and failing to make a notification of an oil discharge after an investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The company, based in Leetsdale, operated pursuant to the terms of a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit issued by the state Department of Environmental Protection under the Clean Water Act. The permit sets discharge limits for copper and oil and requires the company to submit discharge monitoring reports each month to the DEP.

Between June 2012 and May 2017, Hussey knowingly submitted false monitoring reports indicating discharges were within limits when they were not.

The company also reported false values in monthly reports to the state as to at least 140 parameters subject to discharge limits, including copper discharges.

From January 2012 to 2018, Hussey also engaged in a pattern of discharging oil into the Ohio River and creating sheens on the water in violation of the Clean Water Act. The company was required to report those sheens but did not.