ROCKVILLE CAR WASH CONVICTED OF WATER POLLUTION

Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran announced today that M.J.L. Corp. trading as Touch*Less II Car Wash, located at 16185 Shady Grove Road in Rockville Maryland was convicted of water pollution and ordered to pay a $5000 fine. Company President and owner Samuel Pellerito admitted that the car wash discharged its waste water into the storm drain inlet near the intersection of Shady Grove Road and MD Rt. 355 on November 10, 2005. State Highway Administration engineers investigating why the storm water management pond alongside MD Rt. 355 near Shady Grove Road contained green colored water discovered that the soapy water originated from the car wash. They traced the discharge up stream through the manholes in the storm sewer until they arrived at the car wash. At that point they took photographs of the discharge coming from a fenced in dumpster area which contained a storm drain inlet.

Montgomery County District Court Judge Stephen P. Johnson imposed a $10,000 fine on the company, suspended $5,000 and placed the car wash on one year’s unsupervised probation. The judge also ordered that the line leading from the car wash to the storm drain inlet be permanently filled in and disabled.

According to the statement of facts, the discharge came from a line connected to the car wash’s waste-water collection system. Although that line was supposed to have been capped and sealed in 2001, state and county inspectors discovered that the cap could be removed thus restoring the line to service. The case was investigated by the Environmental Crimes Unit of the Office of the Attorney General with assistance from the Maryland State Police, the State Highway Administration, the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Montgomery County Division of Environmental Policy and Compliance.