BALTIMORE COUNTY MAN CHARGED WITH
WATER POLLUTION

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that Ronald Lee Curland, 38, of Cherry Chapel Road in Reisterstown, Maryland was charged in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County with discharging a pollutant into waters of the State. The charge alleges that Curland violated the State's water pollution laws on December 17, 2003 by illegally discharging carpet-cleaning wastewater into an unnamed tributary of Moores Branch which is itself a tributary of the Jones Falls. The discharge is alleged to have occurred in the 3300 block of Lightfoot Drive in the Pikesville area of Baltimore County.

If convicted of the illegal discharge of a pollutant into waters of the State, Curland could be sentenced to a year in prison and/or fined $25,000. The charge is merely an accusation of criminal wrongdoing and each individual is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The filing of charges follows a joint investigation conducted by the Environmental Crimes Unit of the Office of the Attorney General and the Maryland State Police.

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