DRY CLEANING OPERATOR SENTENCED FOR
WATER POLLUTION VIOLATION

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced the guilty plea and sentencing of Bryon Lee Alsop, 71, owner of Norge Village Laundry and Dry Cleaning at 909 ½ Taylor Avenue, Annapolis, of a water pollution violation.

Alsop appeared before the Honorable Joseph P. Manck in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County and admitted to Discharging a Pollutant into the Waters of the State on October 30,2001. The Defendant admitted discharging over 15 gallons of tetrachloroethylene, commonly known as "perc"- a dry cleaning chemical, near a storm drain on the parking lot immediately adjacent to his business. As a result of the unlawful discharge, a large area of the parking lot was closed while emergency personnel from the Maryland Department of the Environment and Office of the Attorney General, as well as the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Fire Departments responded to the scene.

It is a criminal violation to discharge a pollutant into the waters of the State or to place a pollutant in a location where it is likely to pollute.

Alsop was placed on a period of one year's probation and ordered to pay a fine of $15,000 to the Maryland Department of the Environment Clean Water Fund. In the event that Alsop violates the terms of his probation, the Court has reserved the right to impose the maximum sentence of one year's incarceration and a $25,000 fine.

Alsop, who has no prior criminal record, is selling his business.

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