TOLEDO, Ohio — An Ohio man pleaded guilty in the Northern District of Ohio federal court to a charge of violating the Clean Water Act after he dumped pollutants and hazardous substances from his transport facilities into an Ohio waterway.
According to a press release from the United States Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Ohio, 72-year-old Mark Shepherd, of Kenton, dumped 7,000 gallons of pollutants into the Scioto River near Hardin County in April 2021. The dumped substance, which contained ammonia, originated from two facilities Shepherd owned: Cessna Transport Inc. and A.G. Bradley Inc.
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The Ohio Department of Natural Resources determined the discharge of hazardous wastewater flowed approximately 18 miles downstream from the dumping site and killed 43,000 fish. The ODNR valued the fish, which included black bass, flathead catfish, sunfish and minnows, at over $22,000.
The area of the dumping is frequently used in recreational fishing, according t the press release. A local fisherman initially reported the fish deaths.
"Illegal dumping of pollutants into the Scioto River in Hardin County, Ohio not only violated the Clean Water Act, but also harmed aquatic species," Special Agent in Charge Tyler Amon of the EPA's Criminal Investigative Division in Ohio said in the press release. "This guilty plea illustrates EPA's and its partners commitment to protecting the environment and ensuring accountability for those that fail to abide by our nation's environmental laws."
According to the Ohio EPA's website, the Scioto River is 230 miles long. It is a part of the Scioto River watershed, which flows through southern and central Ohio and drains a total of 6,513 square miles across 31 counties.
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