CECIL COUNTY MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO WATER POLLUTION

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that Eddie Broadway, Jr., 43, of the1400 block of E. Old Philadelphia Road, Elkton, Maryland has pled guilty to illegally discharging a pollutant into the waters of the State of Maryland. The Honorable O. Robert Lidums of the Circuit Court for Cecil County sentenced Broadway to six months in jail and suspended the sentence in favor of eighteen months of supervised probation. Broadway was also ordered to complete fifty hours of community work service. Judge Lidums also imposed a fine of $5,000 which he suspended. The maximum penalty for the offense, which is a misdemeanor, is up to one year in jail and a $25,000 fine.

The conviction results from Broadway illegally discharging fuel oil from an underground fuel tank at 16 Westover Place, North East, while attempting to remove water that had gotten into the tank. The fuel oil was pumped from the tank through a hose that emptied into a stream that flows into the North East River.

On November 29, 2004, neighbors noticed a strong odor of fuel and upon going outside, noticed an oily sheen in the stream that flows beside their residence. The North East Fire Department was contacted and responded along with Cecil County Emergency Services and the Maryland Department of the Environment, Emergency Response Division. An oil boom was placed downstream from 16 Westover Place to collect the oil. Samples were collected from the stream and from the fuel tank. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Laboratory concluded that the stream sample and the suspected source sample were derived from a common source of petroleum oil.

The conviction follows an investigation conducted by the Environmental Crimes Unit of the Office of the Attorney General and the Maryland State Police with the assistance of the Maryland Department of the Environment, Emergency Response Division.

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